Super Bowl's second record:
Online viewing
Other shorts: ABC sells out Oscar ad inventory
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Feb 8, 2012
Super Bowl's second record: Online viewing
The Super Bowl set a record for online viewing as well as TV viewing this year. NBC said yesterday that 2.1 million unique viewers watched the first-ever live stream of the game online, outdrawing previous big-ticket events like the World Cup (1.1 million) and Rose Bowl (400,000). Those viewers spent an average 39 minutes watching. NBCSports.com and NFL.com both streamed the game, which was also available on Verizon mobile phones. The network offered a plethora of extras for the web broadcast, including different camera angles. But NBC Sports said all along it envisioned the feed as complementary to the TV broadcast, something that viewers could tune into while watching on TV to enhance their experience. A
record 111.3 million viewers watched the TV version, and 23.1 million listened on the radio, according to Dial Global. There's been a huge uptick in the number of sporting events available live online over the past few years, with the NCAA men's basketball tournament a pioneer, going online six years ago. NBC is planning extensive live online coverage of the Summer Olympics this year as well.
ABC sells out Oscar ad inventory
Two weeks ahead of the Academy Awards, ABC has sold out its ad inventory for the ceremony, with some advertisers still clamoring to get their spots onto the broadcast. Disney CEO Bob Iger said during a first quarter earnings conference call that the network had moved all the ads it is allowed under its agreement with the Academy, which limits the number of spots available so as to reduce clutter. Iger said the network has continued to receive requests for spots, which probably will not be granted. Last year the network sold 30-second spots for $1.7 million, and this year spots are selling for a very slight increase, according to reports. Last year's ceremony
averaged 37.9 million total viewers and an 11.8 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen. This year's ceremony will air Feb. 26 and will be hosted by Billy Crystal.
Report: 30-second spot costs rise again
Broadcast TV ratings keep going down, and the cost of a 30-second spot keeps going up. The average cost of a primetime spot grew in the second, third and fourth quarters of last year, according to analysis from the media agency TargetCast tcm and research company SQAD Inc., with the average price coming in at $127,291 in second quarter (up 2 percent year-to-year), $82,951 in third quarter (up 4 percent) and $116,122 in fourth quarter (up 2 percent). Demand increased as ratings fell because that means less inventory to sell. Primetime ratings among viewers 25-54 were down 4 percent in second quarter and 2 percent in third quarter, though they rose 3 percent in fourth quarter. In each quarter Fox fetched the highest average rate, followed by ABC in quarters two and three and CBS in quarter four. NBC was No. 4 in each quarter. Cable saw healthier growth, with average unit cost up 15 percent in second quarter, 9 percent in third quarter and 7 percent in fourth quarter. ESPN had the highest average cost each quarter, followed by TNT (which has NBA playoffs) in second quarter, USA in third quarter and TBS (which has MLB playoffs) in fourth quarter.
Pew: Fewer are following this year's election
With only one party searching for a nominee this year, fewer people are following news about the presidential election than during the 2008 election cycle, when both parties were in the primary fight. That's according to a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, which found that younger people are especially aloof. This election cycle just 20 percent of those under 30 say they are following news about the campaign very closely, compared to 31 percent four years ago. That may be because young people tend to skew Democrat, and only Republicans are involved in the primary fight. Overall 29 percent of respondents said they are following this election closely, compared to 34 percent in 2008. The study also found that there's been a big change in where people turn for their news, possibly because young people, who tend to turn to the internet, are no longer as engaged. During this news cycle the largest percentage, 36 percent, say they regularly turn to cable news. That's actually down slightly from 38 percent in 2012, but it's well ahead of other media that saw their percentages decline much more, like local TV news (32 percent, down from 40 percent), national nightly network news (26 percent, down from 32 percent) and local daily newspaper (20 percent, down from 31 percent).
ComScore: Online spending jumps 14 percent in Q4
Certain areas of the economy have seen a long and slow recovery, but online retail isn't one of them--it has been
growing at a healthy clip for two years now. Fourth-quarter U.S. retail ecommerce sales jumped 14 percent to $49.7 billion, according to comScore, marking the ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth and the fifth straight quarter of double-digit growth. Full-year 2011 online retail sales hit $161.5 billion, up 13 percent from 2010. In fact, last year was the first since 2007 that each quarter of the year enjoyed double-digit growth. ComScore says that the convenience and prices offered by online retail are the main drivers of the growth, and unless those conditions change the growth should continue, or even accelerate. The fastest-growing retail categories in the fourth quarter of last year were digital content and subscriptions, jewelry and watches, consumer electronics, toys and hobbies, and computer software, with each growing at least 18 percent versus fourth quarter 2010. During the quarter 52 percent of all online retail transactions included free shipping, an all-time high.
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