BUT IT WASN’T EASY: NBC Sets Record And Sells Out Super Bowl Ads For $201M

COMMENTS (8)

• This is why Ben Silverman keeps his job & his blow.

  Comment by Jen — Saturday January 31, 2009 @ 4:06pm PST  Reply to this post

• You can’t just stop marketing or advertising your product or service just because there is a recession.

  Brands that are cutting back on marketing, pr, sponsorship or advertising will find their recession longer than those who didn’t.

  Comment by Chris Ryan — Saturday January 31, 2009 @ 4:26pm PST  Reply to this post

• Hmmm Advertising Age & MediaPost both reported that there was a “buy a SuperBowl ad get an ad for the pregame show cheap/free incentive”. Also the rates for pregame ads were cut this week from $4 million down to $3 million for 30 seconds And that the game-related advertisers are decidedly lower rent than they used to be (like a spot from cash4gold.com with MC Hammer & Ed McMahon)

  So once again the NBC spin machine is at it again

  Comment by Scuttlebutt — Saturday January 31, 2009 @ 4:29pm PST  Reply to this post

• Its just smart business for advertisers. A guaranteed audience of say 50 million. You can whine about the money but can’t show the same viewer numbers for prime time dramas or comedies on any network. The closest is American Idol on FOX at 30 million. That 200 million would pay for what 5 series for a year at most at 4 million per episode x 22 episodes a year. They get maximum audience for a couple million and cut their advertising in prime time to pay for it.

  Comment by Smart Business — Saturday January 31, 2009 @ 4:45pm PST  Reply to this post

• Buying in the SuperBowl is the only smart, guaranteed home run in today’s media world. The PR alone, if you have good creative, is worth as much as your spot price. Chris Ryan is so right!

  Comment by BriteBlonde1 — Saturday January 31, 2009 @ 7:59pm PST  Reply to this post

• NBC will be the first network to go out of business in the new age of entertainment.

  And when it does, we should all remember that it failed not because of technology or a societal shift. It failed because of GE’s failure to change the business dynamic in a changing nation.

  CBS has two black leads n primetime, ABS had the most diverse schedule on TV and even FOX has built its success on diversity with more to come.

  Lily-white NBC is in shabmles with only that buffoon Tracy Morgan on the schedule.

  Disagree if you will but the truth is here people, look out your windows and locked car doors or better yet turn on CNN and see the First Family.

  American has turned the corner.

  Turn with it or hit the wall at full speed.

  Bye bye NBC, we hardly knew ye.

  Comment by Anonymous — Sunday February 1, 2009 @ 12:20pm PST  Reply to this post

• As usual, these reported rates are complete fabrications. Why not, as there’s no truly independent third party reporting source to verify them? Typically, primetime advertisers purchase SB inventory at a negotiated rate and shift money from existing prime spots to the game, so NBC can report nonsense like this. As indicated above, tons of no-charge media related to the game were baked into deals, with all reported dollars going against the game telecast itself. Sports account execs get their bonuses, NBC gets to pat itself on the back in the unquestioning press and life goes on…

  Comment by Paw — Monday February 2, 2009 @ 1:54pm PST  Reply to this post

• Are you a disgruntled ex-NBC employee? I mean, seriously? Your obvious distaste for nearly everything NBC-related is glaring. I love your blog and I’ve been reading it for a long time, but I’ve never seen so many negative posts about other networks. Prove me wrong….!

  Comment by slant? — Monday February 2, 2009 @ 6:17pm PST  Reply to this post