CBS CBS Corp

By Nick Niedzwiadek 

If it seemed there were a lot of CBS network promos during Super Bowl 50, you weren't imagining things.

The network consistently uses more of its airtime to promote itself in the NFL championship game than rivals NBC and Fox. The three networks rotate coverage of the Super Bowl each year.

In the four Super Bowls it has aired since 2006, CBS has averaged nine minutes and 25 seconds of promotions for its own programming, according to data provided by media analytics firm Kantar Media.

In Super Bowl 50 last Sunday, CBS had eight minutes and 50 seconds of promo time, including an ad announcing the final nine episodes of "The Good Wife."

Fox has averaged just over eight minutes of broadcast time for network promos in the three Super Bowls it has telecast since 2006, and NBC devoted less than seven minutes of Super Bowl ad time to itself during that span.

Kantar measured ads from "opening kickoff and the final whistle," including halftime.

CBS also dedicated the most promotional time to the NFL of any network, averaging two minutes per broadcast. Fox averaged about 112 seconds, NBC about 107 seconds and ABC's sole broadcast just 100 seconds for the league.

CBS did sell plenty of ads, too, at up to $5 million for 30 seconds. A CBS spokesman said the network's "goal is to maximize revenue and promotional value, and we succeeded on both fronts."

CBS reports fourth quarter earnings after the close of the market Thursday and may provide some highlights from its Super Bowl performance, though the big game was played in the first quarter of this year.

Factors outside of the networks' control, such as the economy and the length of the game itself, can contribute to the amount of advertising needed to fill the broadcast. CBS carried the 2013 Super Bowl between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers that was dubbed "The Blackout Bowl" after a power outage in the stadium caused a 34 minute delay that needed to be filled.

Due to the unexpected delay, that game had more than 10 minutes of CBS network spots and three minutes of NFL promos.

Even excluding the outlier in 2013, CBS had two of the three Super Bowls that featured the most network self-promotion, with Fox being the other.

NBC's 2012 broadcast was the only one over the time period to feature a paid advertisement from another network when the History Channel aired a 30-second spot for "Swamp People."

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 11, 2016 15:41 ET (20:41 GMT)

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