Record Super Bowl Sell for CBS

A conspicuous dip in movie promos was evident this year, as a handful of studios (Universal, Paramount, Walt Disney Co., CBS Films, Overture Films) lined up for time in CBS’ Super Bowl broadcast. The network didn’t screen a single trailer-length movie promo; as such, total air time added up to just 2:45, a 61 percent drop from last year’s 7 minutes of film teasers.

While Kantar did not provide an estimate of CBS’ overall ad sales revenue take for last night’s game, given the fluctuation in pricing (between $2.5 million and $2.8 million per spot), plus the additional inventory load, the network likely matched or slightly exceeded the $213 million NBC booked against Super Bowl XLIII.

CBS closed out its last piece of real estate on Monday, Feb. 1, just six days before the Colts and Saints squared off in Miami. A year ago, NBC still had two 30-second spots on its hands just 48 hours before kickoff.