News
Oscar Telecast Ad Sales Steady
By Robert Marich
Jan 27, 2010 – The expansion of the Best Picture field of movies to 10 from five has not made a discernable difference in rates for advertising on ABC Television’s upcoming Oscars telecast.
Advertising for the March 7 Academy Awards telecast is selling for $1.3-1.5 million per 30-second commercial, which is the same rate as last year, notes an article in Advertising Age. Last year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) allowed movie ads in the Oscar telecast, after they had been banned previously.
The Ad Age article continues: “Last year's Oscar telecast cost advertisers around $1.4 million for a 30-second ad, down significantly from 2008, when a 30-second spot commanded as much as $1.82 million.” Given the recession, that may be expected.
Besides a huge audience, the Oscars corrals a large women’s audience, which is attracted by the glamour and fashions worn by Hollywood stars.
Marketing to Moviegoers notes that the Oscars telecast is the cash cow for the not-for-profit AMPAS, which is determined to prop up audience levels so as not to face dwindling TV rights income. Though all broadcast network TV faces declining audiences, the Oscars face a double drag when arty and dreary films – which academy increasingly tend to favor in awards voting – top the Best Picture category.
Notes the Advertising Age article by Brian Steinberg: “In 1997, for example, approximately 55 million viewers tuned in to see the crowd-pleasing Titanic win best picture. But in 2003, when Chicago won the honor, only 33 million watched. And just 32 million tuned in to see No Country for Old Men snare the prize in 2008.”
Ad Age says that 2008 audience represents an all time low, down from 38.9 million in 2007, according to Nielsen research compiled by Brad Adgate, senior VP-research at independent ad-buyer Horizon Media. However, Oscar got a bounce in 2009 averaging 36.3 million viewers.
The nominees will be announced Feb. 2 and a near certainty is that newly-minted all-time box office champ Avatar will be in the Oscar mix, which may presage a lift, given what happened when Titanic was a Best Picture entry.
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adage.com/mediaworks/article
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