Buyers have "indicated that Fox is charging" between $5.5-5.6M for a 30-second in-game Super Bowl LIV unit, a slight increase over the $5.2M that CBS priced its inventory at last year, according to Anthony Crupi of AD AGE. Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said that Fox Sports Exec VP/Sports Sales Seth Winter and his team have "already closed out" some of Super Bowl LIV's "most high-impact" slots. Murdoch said, "We're sold out of all of our 'A' positions," referring to the very first commercials to air in each individual ad break. In '18, CBS "sold all of its lead-off spots" by Halloween. Because Fox is "selling fewer breaks" -- the network and the NFL have agreed to cut to commercial four times per quarter rather than the traditional five -- it also has "fewer A positions to sell." Demand for those lead-off units "generally results in an early rush by marketers to nail down one of the 20 available spots," and with the number of A positions having been "slashed to 16, Fox has been able to lend an even greater sense of urgency to this year's NFL showcase" (ADAGE.com, 11/8).
BACK IN BUSINESS: AD AGE's Poggi & Schultz noted WeatherTech and Kia are "coming back to the game." The two brands returning to the Super Bowl brings the "number of confirmed Super Bowl advertisers to three," along with Avocados From Mexico, which confirmed in October. Kia, which is extending its streak to 11 years, "did not confirm details on its ad plans," other than it will be handled by David&Goliath, L.A. For last season's game, the automaker "diverted from its typical approach of using celebrities with a 90-second ad touting its factory" in West Point, Ga., and the workers employed there. WeatherTech, meanwhile, is "returning to the Super Bowl with its seventh consecutive commercial." It will be handled by Pinnacle Advertising, Illinois. Pinnacle President & CEO Mike Magnusson said that the car mat maker "would go in a new creative direction with its 30-second spot, but he did not elaborate on exactly how the ad would be different" from its previous Super Bowl ads. WeatherTech has historically "leaned-in to its 'Made in America' messaging during the Super Bowl" (ADAGE.com, 11/8).
