NBC still has spots available during next Sunday’s Super Bowl. The network continues to negotiate ad deals, according to The Kansas City Star. Super Bowl time this year is going for a record $3 million per 30-second spot, $300,000 more than Fox charged last year when it grossed nearly $196 million for the game. NBC itself is eating up around $30 million in time this year to hawk its own shows, TV Weekreports.
Previous stalwart advertisers, including General Motors and FedEx, are taking a pass on this game while hard times pound earnings into the ground. Automotive ads led last year’s Super Bowl advertising, with a total of 5.5 minutes, according to Nielsen. Movie trailers were next with 4.5 minutes, followed by beer with 4.0 minutes.
Budweiser was the single biggest advertiser for the eighth year in a row during the 2008 game, running six, 30-second spots and one full 60-second commercial. Bud will again be a major player in this year’s Super Bowl match-up between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers, scheduled for February 1 in Tampa, Fla. Bud will have a total of nine ads in the game.
The biggest move among advertisers is doing 3DTV. Pepsi, DreamWorks and NBC are collaborating on an a 3D ad combining a promo for “Monstors vs. Aliens,” a DreamWorks film, SoBe Lifewater and NBC’s “Chuck,” which will be telecast in 3D following the Super Bowl. American Paper Optics in Bartlett, Tenn., has produced 125 million pairs of the goofy 3D glasses, being distributed free at 25,000 SoBe retails displays around the country.
Last year’s Super Bowl between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots netted a total of 97.5 million viewers and a 42.1 household rating, making it the most-watched telecast of the year, Nielsen said. The most-watched Super Bowl of all time was in 1982, when the game posted a 49.1 rating. The game skews higher than average on HD veiwership. During the 2008 game, an estimated 15 percent of TV households were HD capable, yet 41 percent of those who watched the game saw it in high definition.
