Amid a slumping economy, CTV is struggling to find sponsors for its broadcast of this Sunday’s Super Bowl.
“We’re a little bit behind where we were last year,” said Rick Brace, CTV’s president of revenue, business, planning and sports. “It is a much tougher market… and sales are very last-minute these days. It’s not as much an up-front buy as it once was. That’s been the main impact. And you have sponsors that are just not advertising—Chrysler, for example… is just not advertising on television right now.”
Brace wouldn’t reveal how many spots are still available, but said the network is “close” to selling all commercial space by Friday’s deadline.
The lukewarm interest from sponsors comes despite the fact that there is less ad time up for grabs this year. Brace said there is between 11 and 12 minutes an hour available.
Ad rates for the NBC broadcast are said to have soared to as high as $3 million per 30-second spot—up from last year’s $2.7 million. Without revealing details, Brace said that rates have climbed in Canada too, noting that the Super Bowl remains “a premium property” and that audiences have been strong.
Sunday’s glitzy ads are expected to include a slick 3-D spot by DreamWorks. The 90-second ad for SoBe Life Water will include a preview of the upcoming animated feature Monsters vs. Aliens.
Celebrities are also set to feature in other ads, including a 60-second spot for Audi starring action hero Jason Statham. An H&R Block ad will feature Abe Vigoda as the grim reaper, while talk show host Conan O’Brien turns up in a Bud Light commercial. In the beer spot, the pale-faced comedian agrees to shoot a Bud Light ad in Sweden and, of course, things don’t go quite as planned.
Those who catch the game on CTV will see less flashy ads for Kia, CIBC, Labatt, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, although it’s possible that the Coke ads seen south of the border could air here as well, said Brace.
“If you talk to the (advertising) agencies, the cost of creative is extremely high,” said Brace of the stark difference between U.S. and Canadian Super Bowl ads. “We’re in a pretty tough market now… and even when we’re not in a tough market, the cost of producing an ad is extremely high. And generally speaking, you have lower budgets here.’’
Viewers can also expect to see multiple ads for CTV programming, especially the upcoming Juno Awards and its 2010 coverage of the Winter Olympics.
“When you’ve got something as high profile as Super Bowl you definitely take advantage of that,’’ said Brace. “I think we’d be doing ourselves a disservice not to promote some of our own programming.”
