Television is the preferred medium to watch sports, and streaming media has growth and buzz, but radio holds its own among sports listeners.
A total of 23.1 million listeners tuned in to hear Super Bowl XLVI on radio, reports Edison Research and network company Dial Global. That 23.1 figure stacks up nicely to the 111.3 million who watched the Super Bowl on television, and the 2.1 million who streamed it. Edison Research conducted the survey live via telephone interviews on Sunday, following the Giants 21-17 victory over the Patriots. That gives radio a 16.9% share among the three media. Listeners accessed the live broadcast in multiple environments, including the home, while driving, at work and other locations, and on over 680 stations nationwide.
While Honda, Coca-Cola and Budweiser reached the TV viewership, some big brands that reached the 23.1 million radio listeners included:
- Allstate
- Advance Auto Parts
- Go Daddy
- Subway
- Home Depot
“We are…excited, but not surprised, to see that our research findings highlight…the ongoing demand for radio broadcast coverage of live sporting events,” said David Landau, Co-President CEO of Dial Global. Edison conducted a similar survey in January, to find that 22.9 million people tuned in to radio broadcasts of AFC and NFC championship games on Sunday, January 22. An overwhelming majority of tuned in on AM or FM radio, versus Sirius XM or the Verizon Mobile App.
Dial Global has 100% coverage of the U.S., with a core demographic of adults 25-54.Dial broadcasts nearly 100 NFL games, exclusive NFL primetime games, the Playoffs and the Super Bowl. “Given the popularity of The Super Bowl as ‘television’s ultimate event’ where people actually look forward to the commercials and the halftime show, the number of radio listeners may come as a surprise to those who are not familiar with the significant reach of broadcast radio,” said Larry Rosin, Edison President.
Upfront TV: “NCIS” at 200 | Super Bowl Tops Itself | “Voice” Soars | Hispanic News, English Language
- Kudos to CBS and “NCIS,” which tonight will air its 200th episode. The Navy/legal drama debuted in 2003, with actor Mark Harmon at the helm, who was best known for his work on NBC’s “St. Elsewhere,” and as a hunk-for-hire on such shows as “The West Wing.” “NCIS” has defied the approaching-a-decade malaise, delivering an average 22.7 million viewers for new episodes this season. 100 episodes is industry standard to reach syndication level. The record number of episodes in history television belongs to “Gunsmoke,” which ran for 20 seasons and 635 episodes.
- Super Bowl XLVI attracted a record 111.3 million total viewers, reports Media Life, to become the most-watched broadcast in television history. This is the third year running that the Super Bowl has set the record, held until 2010 by the series finale of "M*A*S*H" in 1983. It was also the highest-rated Super Bowl in 26 years, with an average 47.0 household rating and 71 share. The game took a 40.5 share among adults 18-49.
- The post-Super Bowl Season 2 premiere of “The Voice” on NBC took a 16.3 rating adult 18-49 rating, and 37.61 million viewers, reports TVByTheNumbers. This was NBC’s best rating for an entertainment telecast since the “Friends” finale in 2004, with a 24.9 share.
- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ruled that NBC’s WMAQ-TV Chicago had a right to deny long-shot GOP presidential candidate Randall Terry a Super Bowl ad spot, reports Broadcasting & Cable. FCC ruled that while broadcasters must make ad time available to qualified candidates, WMAQ judged fairly that Terry was unqualified, given his showing at the polls. The ad reportedly contained graphic images of aborted fetuses, which Terry believed was behind the denial.
- Univision and Disney are in talks for a Latino-oriented 24-hour cable news channel, in English. As TVNewsCheck reports, neither company will confirm or discuss the project, but are likely to launch the channel in time for the November presidential election. The 2010 census revealed that U.S. born Latinos comprise nearly 60% of the growth among U.S. Hispanics over the last decade, and that an increasing number speak English as a first language.
Analysts: 2012 Ad Spends to be “Decent” In TV, Digital, Down in Magazines
Ad Age is predicting a pretty good, if not stellar 2012 in which digital and TV spends will be up, but magazines down.
Vincent Letang, who is executive VP and head of global forecasting at Magna Global, attributed what growth there will be—about 10.9% across all media—largely to 2012 being both an Olympics and an election year. Without them, “Some would have predicted probably a worse outlook” for 2012. But with those two powerful drivers, TV ad revenue should increase by 6.8% this year. Time will tell, with upfront spending just getting going. Thusfar only General Motors (GM) has canceled upon a significant percent of its commitments, at just shy of 50%.
TV ad revenue should increase 6.8% this year, once again, attributable once election season and the Olympics have their effect, according to Magna Global's forecast on Jan. 23. The past several weeks have been strong, but the second-quarter scatter market will ultimately provide the best indication for upfront spending, said Mel Berning, exec VP-ad sales at A&E Networks.
Ad pages fell about 8.4% in January and February issues, year-over-year (YOY), and magazines overall can expect a 5.2% decline in 2012 ad revenue, Magna Global predicts. But there are signs of health in the digital quarter, with at least one media provider (Complex Media) projecting firth-quarter revenues doubling over Q4 2012. So while print journals will see a decline, their digital properties—and they all have them—are likely to help them tread water.
Nielsen Case Study: Local TV, Advertisers Gain Unduplicated Reach with Online Audience
Nielsen has released a case study revealing that in local markets, station websites contribute added reach to early and late news broadcasts—particularly among the 18-34 demographic.
Nielsen conducted the study along with TV operator Fisher Communications, focusing upon two Washington-based Fisher properties, being KOMO in Seattle and KATU in Oregon. Fisher reportedly wanted to better leverage its content and advertising inventory. Nielsen used its Single Home Among Nielsen’s findings:
- KOMO station earned an unduplicated audience of 2.9% from its website for persons 18 and older, comprising 10% of the combined reach of its 11pm news broadcast, Monday through Friday. The number is even higher for persons 18-34, with a 3.9% incremental reach and nearly 23% of the total combined reach.
- KATU added 2.8% incremental reach from online viewership, with the 25-54 demographic creating the highest boost. Katu.com contributed 14% of combined viewership.
The significance to advertisers is that, with precise measurements such as these and integrated TV and Internet, marketers are “gaining the ability to better package local ad inventory” and to amplify local TV audience value. Precision attracts advertisers to spend more locally.
However, those advertisers must pay attention to the demographics cross-media, which differ. KOMO news broadcast viewers are predominantly female, while online viewers are predominantly male. And, online viewers included a higher percentage of mid-range income ($50,000 - $99,000) than any of its three daily news broadcasts.
Nielsen expects that with findings like these, TV outlets will use on-air broadcasts to more heavily promote their websites; and to promote cross-media advertising.
Online Ads: Poll Finds 15 Seconds the Limit for Consumers
Consumers understand that free content online is supported by advertising. But the majority at 54% considers 15 seconds the limit for in-stream and online ads, according to a survey by Poll Position. The company conducted a survey of 1,179 registered U.S. voters.
Of those polled, 54% felt that 15 seconds was acceptable, and 12% went as high as 30 seconds. But the numbers climb even higher, when you exclude the 27% who had no opinion. Of those who do have an opinion—
- 73% find 15 seconds acceptable;
- 5% find 30 seconds acceptable.
Demographic Divides
Interestingly, the figures were fairly close for male versus female voters and Republicans versus Democrats. But some significant demographic differences emerged.
Consumers in the 30-44 age group had the highest tolerance for 15-second ads, at 60.5%. Those in the 65+ demographic are far less patient, and only 40.1% of those consumers find 15 seconds acceptable, versus the 54.1% mean.
Among ethnic groups, 60.3% of white consumers find 15 seconds acceptable, but only 40.1% of Hispanics, and 33.3% of African-American respondents.
A Decade of Super Bowl Ad Stats: Ad Spend Reaches $1.72 Billion
From 2002 through 2011, the Super Bowl game has generated $1.72 billion of network advertising sales from more than 125 marketers, reports Kantar Media.
Leading the pack is Anheuser-Busch InBev with $239.1 million in ads. The company has advertised in every Super Bowl for the past decade, as have two other top spenders, PepsiCo and Walt Disney Co. The top five advertisers of the past decade collectively spent $636.6 million, for 37% of total advertising revenue.
The average rate for a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl increased 40 percent over past decade, for $3.1 million in 2010. NBC is asking $3.5 million for a 30-second unit in 2012, but the price will vary based on when the ad runs and if the advertiser opts for a larger package that includes spots in the pre-game and/or post-game coverage.
Kantar Media bemoans the rise in “clutter,” as the volume of commercial time has crept up. The Fox broadcast of the 2011 Super Bowl included 46 minutes of network ads, second only to 2010 with 104 minutes. That commercial time included paying sponsors, NFL messages, commercial messages from the NFL and Fox ads promoting its own shows.
About 20% of advertisers are first-timers, but in 2011 that dropped to 14%, with only four new marketers (Best Buy, Carmax, Groupon and Salesforce.com). Only three first timers have confirmed ad slots for 2012, being Century 21, Dannon and Relativity Media, a film studio.
Interestingly, the Super Bowl is attracting not just giants like PepsiCo and Disney, but smaller marketers as well. In 2011, nearly one-third of advertisers spent more than 10% of their full-media budgets. Careerbuilder spent $3.1 million, for 31% of its budget, and Salesforce.com spent 23%.
BPA Amends Rules for Print and Digital Tallies
Ad buyers and planners can expect more precise circulation figures, beginning in 2012. Folio reports that media auditor BPA Worldwide has approved several new and amended rules, some aimed at better segmenting print and digital readerships. All were member-requested changes.
Old rules assigned three categories of readership, “print,” “digital” and “both,” for a total of 100%; someone who read “both” was not counted as a print or digital reader. New measures will roll “both” readers into the “print” and “digital” categories, for higher figures.
The BPA board approved “downloaded apps” by month as a measure in a BPA Brand Report, versus a standard BPA report; but the measure must include verbiage “disclosing the limitations of the figures,” says Folio. App copies cannot be reported as qualified circulation, as are downloaded issues, or email deliveries.
Also true, subscriber access to digital copies will be used as a measure of renewals in some cases, such as when 1) a weekly is accessed nine times in six months; 2) a monthly is been accessed twice in six months; and 3) a quarterly publication is accessed every six months.
AOL Targets “Very Important Moms” with Parenting.com Deal
AOL and Bonnier’s Parenting Group are joining forces. This will enable AOL to use content from Bonnier’s parenting.com on such AOL properties as AOL.com, HuffPo Parents and the AOL Family Channel, reports MediaBistro. Both AOL and Bonnier see the deal as targeting mothers. As Ned Brody, Chief Revenue Officer of AOL put it, “Moms are a very important part of the AOL community, and the Parenting.com brand brings a wealth of credibility, authority and expertise on the issues that matter most to today’s modern families.” Similarly, Bonnier Parenting Group VP Mark Wildman observed that the deal enables Bonnier to “Tap into a completely new segment of advertisers targeting moms online,” with “The types of digital programs that we can offer to our marketing partners.” TPG’s other titles include Parenting School Years, Parenting Early Years and Babytalk. Its media properties include ConceiveOnline and MomConnection.
Magna: 2012 Mediaspend to Grow 4.7 Percent
IPG's Magna predicts that global media spending will hit $427 billion in 2012, up 4.7 percent from estimated 2011 mediaspend. That is a 0.5 percent decrease from the firm's previous 2012 estimates.
US media forecasts are slightly less rosy, at 3.7 percent growth to $153 billion. Interestingly, China may pop up to the second largest ad market in 2012, partly due to its own organic growth, and partly due to unexpected adspend declines in tsunami-hit Japan.
Two other ad giants published 2012 forecasts that were equally or slightly more optimistic than Magna's newest prediction. Zenith Optimedia predicts 4.7 percent growth. GroupM predicts that the Olympics will add still more momentum, driving world spend to $522 billion, a 6.4 percent increase over 2011.
Device’s Screen Size May Determine Conversion Likelihood
While search advertisers experience higher click-through-rates for mobile phone and tablet search campaigns than for desktop search campaigns (at 166% and 137% respectively) according to a November 2011 report from Macquarie Group, those clicks are less likely to convert to sales in a direct relationship to screen size. The report employed Efficient Frontier advertiser data. Efficient Frontier found that mobile conversion rates were at just 31% of the average desktop campaign’s, while tablet conversion rates were much more on par (96%). Meanwhile, the average cost-per-click (CPC) on mobile phone search campaigns was slightly higher (108%) than for desktop search campaigns, although CPCs for tablet campaigns were on average 85% of desktop search campaign CPCs.