Tonight's series finale of NBC's "Seinfeld" marks the
"first time that the final episode of a television series has
taken on the trappings of a Super Bowl, the annual festival
of commercialism that has become as much a day for marketers
as for football fans," according to Stuart Elliott of the
N.Y. TIMES. MasterCard VP/Advertising Larry Flanagan: "The
media interest has been 50 percent greater than during the
Super Bowl." NBC is charging $1.7M per 30-second spot on the
hour-and-a-quarter finale, surpassing the $1.3M it charged
during Super Bowl XXXII. NBC is projecting that up to 79
million people will tune in tonight (N.Y. TIMES, 5/14). The
highest-rated series finale belongs to "MASH," which received
a 60.2 rating, and pulled in 121,624,000 viewers. The "MASH"
finale is the highest-rated non-sporting event in TV history,
and the tenth most-watched program of all time (THE DAILY).
GET OUT! ESPN Chilton Sports Poll asked 990 people ages
12+ (both sports fans and non-fans) if they were given the
choice of watching a regular season NFL game or "Seinfeld,"
which would they choose? 52.8% said an NFL game, 39% said
"Seinfeld," 8.1% said neither (ESPN Chilton Sports Poll).
