NBC Has Just a Few Slots Left

January 27, 2009

By Anthony Crupi, Mediaweek

With six days to go before Super Bowl XLIII kicks off in Tampa, Fla., NBC said that it now has just four 30-second spots left to move.

In a Tuesday afternoon conference call, Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports and Olympics, said that the network has sold all but four of the 67 available spots, which translates into a 94 percent clearance. On Friday, NBC still had about 8-10 spots available.

"We had one incredibly lucky break in that before the meltdown, our sales department sold more Super Bowl inventory than anyone in history," said Ebersol, who is executive producing his fifth Super Bowl. "By September 5, we had cleared 85 percent."

While it's been a tough slog since NBC returned from the Beijing Olympics, the network has managed to sell a dozen spots at the base rate of $3 million a pop. Ebersol said that the remainder of the inventory has traded "in the high two millions, which translates to $2.8 million or $2.9 million, or about 5 to 7 percent higher than Fox's Super Bowl XLII base rate of $2.7 million.

Late last week, Seth Winter, svp, sports and Olympics sales, NBC, said that there were "a lot of conversations ongoing" for the remaining spots, adding that "people came out of the woodwork after New Year's."

Pre-game spots are another story, as NBC has struggled to fill the four hours leading up to the 6:18 p.m. EST kickoff. "We're selling quite a bit this week, although it won't be a record setter," Ebersol said. At the same time, the record high rate card and the last-minute in-game deals should allow NBC to surpass Fox's record ad haul of $186.3 million, said Dean DeBiase, CEO of TNS Media Intelligence. "They still have some time on their hands," DeBiase said. "NBC could come away with more than $200 million."

A year ago, Fox had unloaded 90 percent of its in-game Super Bowl inventory, or about 57 of the 63 available units, by late October, nearly three months before the Feb. 3, 2008 telecast. "Last year Fox was sold out by Thanksgiving. Take that out of the equation and there's nothing different about where NBC is today," said Larry Novenstern, evp, director of national electronic media at Optimedia.

While Anheuser-Busch continues to be the top Super Bowl sponsor, investing in 4.5 minutes of airtime, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola have also bought up multiple spots. Studios have been active as well. "Movies are extraordinary," Winter said. "In the world in which we currently live, movies are a great alternative for families to affordably entertain themselves."

The Steelers-Cardinals matchup may not eclipse last year's record 97.5 million viewers, although ultimately the scope of the game makes deliveries somewhat irrelevant. "It's the last remaining event in all of American TV that does not guarantee a rating," Ebersol noted.

This year's Super Bowl is NBC's first since 1998 and the network's 16th overall, tying it for the all-time lead with CBS.