AD AGE HAS A-B PONYING UP $20M FOR SUPER BOWL EXCLUSIVITY

          Anheuser-Busch is putting the "finishing touches" on a
     deal that will see it pay $20M for "exclusivity in the beer
     category and 10 Super Bowl spots" -- $2M for each 30-second
     commercial, according to Arndorfer & Ross of AD AGE.  The A-
     B spots on Fox's broadcast of Super Bowl XXXIII represent a
     54% increase from the $1.3M which most advertisers paid last
     year.  The increase is 74% more than the $1.15M NBC
     "insiders" said A-B paid for exclusive spots during Super
     Bowl XXXII.  A-B and Fox declined comment on the report, but
     Arndorfer & Ross note a source close to the deal said that
     A-B was "forced to the mat" by NFL sponsor Miller Brewing. 
     In the past, Miller has run pre-and-post game ads, but this
     year, through its media-buying Starcom Media Services, the
     source said that Miller decided on a "very smart strategy:
     that it would either get on the [Super Bowl] or make it
     very, very expensive" for A-B.  Miller last year inked a
     four-year, $300M partnership with Fox.  But while Fox "would
     love" to use the $2M as a "benchmark" for what it can charge
     for a 30-second Super Bowl spot, most media execs said such
     a plan would be "problematic" (AD AGE, 4/13 issue).