TV ratings and Tim Tebow

The business news for the NFL is mostly good on the eve of the Super Bowl. The television ratings for the conference championship games were the highest in 28 years for the NFC and 24 years for AFC. The NFC Championship drew a 30.6 Nielsen rating and 57.9 million viewers, the highest rating since the 49ers beat the Cowboys in 1982 and second most viewers ever. The AFC game drew a rating of 26.3 and 46.9 million viewers, its best since the Patriots, led by Craig James -- the last white running back to rush for 1,000 yards in the NFL and Mike Leach’s favorite parent and broadcaster -- beat the Dolphins to advance to a meeting with the Chicago Bears in 1986. Those ratings are even more stunning when one considers how much the audience for any broadcast TV show has become fragmented with dramatically more channels available today than in the 1980s and with the audience being pulled away from traditional broadcasts toward other forms of media.

The performance of the conference championship games emphatically restates why the NFL is still such good programming for its broadcast partners. Just have four good storylines, some well-known players and, of course, Brett Favre, and the stage is set for a record-setting performance. The championship games are also the biggest stage for the usual advertisers, as they are pricy but deliver tremendous ratings and a huge audience of regular football fans.

With effort, game is a commercial sellout

Still more good news came this week when CBS, which is broadcasting the Super Bowl, announced Monday that it had sold all commercial slots available at yet again record average rates. This time, the rate was just north of $3 million per 30-second spot on average. Knowing that the economy still figured to be tight, CBS started selling early and finally closed out the broadcast’s slots this past week.

The bad news, however, is that this doesn’t include any advertising from some traditional staples of any football broadcast, including the Detroit automakers, and required some last-minute pricing to entice other familiar advertisers to buy into the sport’s biggest showcase. Given the price tag and the diversity of the audience, the Super Bowl is a less-targeted and much more costly platform for advertisers. The fact that Budweiser dramatically scaled back its media buy after the brand’s acquisition by Imbev last year caused great concern that the game would not sell out its commercial time. According to sources, some discounting and packaging took place to entice traditional advertisers back in late, despite the record per-slot average.

Which brings us to Heisman QB Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow and his mother have been attacked by pro-choice and abortion rights groups in recent weeks for agreeing to appear in a Focus on the Family-produced and paid spot featuring Tebow’s own story set to air during the Super Bowl. The commercial is about how Tebow’s mother was advised by a physician to terminate a pregnancy because of illness and she refused. Her baby grew up big, strong and healthy and won the Heisman Trophy.

Tebow certainly has waded into some controversy and is walking a fine line with fans and potential sponsors who usually try to avoid polarizing topics. But if he can tiptoe across a variety of pitfalls, he stands a chance to actually help his image by articulating a position consistent with family values and one widely held in SEC country where he will always be relevant. Ultimately, Tebow’s play will determine if he’s relevant elsewhere. But he could be the rare athlete who makes a thoughtful, positive public statement of his beliefs, and wouldn’t that be refreshing.

But seriously, folks, the reason this ad is running is not because CBS has suddenly taken a pro-family bent or wants to serve some values with the chips and guac that seem to define the Super Bowl experience. CBS agreed to run the ad because it was worried how its inventory was selling in the absence of beer and car ads. The Bud Bowl used to be profitable -- and not nearly so controversial as a pro-life ad -- but in the current economy, CBS and other networks will stand by ads they wouldn’t have run in better times. That said, there are limits, and the gay dating ad from Mancrunch.com, depicting two men wearing Packers and Vikings jerseys who accidentally touch and begin kissing, was rejected. But that probably was more because of how it portrayed NFL jerseys and logos and not so much for its content.

So despite record numbers, CBS accepting the Tebow ad underscores the tremendous uncertainty that exists in the broadcast advertising market for mega events. Without beer and cars, network executives are still scrambling to see what the staples of future Super Bowls will be. Thank heaven for cola wars.

For a look at the 10 QB's who may need a Super Bowl ring to cement their legacy, check out this article from Bleacher Report.

Comments

Add a Comment