A local Super Bowl ad in Charlotte will cost you about twice as much as in Boston, if you can get your hands on one at all.
Charlotte CBS affiliate WBTV is sold out for Sunday's game but has told buyers that if anything opens up, it will cost about $400,000 for a 30-second spot. In Boston, a 30-second ad for the game on WBZ-TV is selling at a comparatively bargain price of $200,000.
Charlotte is the 28th-largest television market in the United States, with 987,000 households. Boston ranks sixth with 2.39 million.
Unfortunately for both stations, most Super Bowl inventory was sold long before their respective home teams made it to the big game.
ESPN EYEING SHORT NHL DEAL: ESPN has generally been insistent on doing long-term deals when it comes to recent rights pacts, but word is the network will agree to a short-term renewal with the NHL, probably for two years.
Sources say the details are still being ironed out regarding rights fees, exclusivity and promotional guarantees, but the sides have come to a general understanding regarding length.
While ESPN has something of a reputation of being merciless when it has leverage over a property, as it surely does with the ratings-challenged NHL, reports are that the league has been pleased with the spirit of the negotiations. ESPN has recognized that the NHL is in a transitional state, with its collective-bargaining agreement set to expire after this season as well as its TV deal.
The league also has accepted that ESPN and its sister network ABC will probably televise far fewer games under the next contract, and rights fees will reflect that.
Sources said no deals are imminent, but reports that the two sides are not talking are false.
EYEVISION TO RETURN TO SUPER BOWL: EyeVision will return to the Super Bowl this year, after debuting on CBS' Super Bowl broadcast in 2001 in Tampa.
The technology involves dozens of cameras spread out like a horseshoe around the upper reaches of a stadium or arena, generating replays that appear to be from one camera panning around an image.
The system, developed by CBS and Princeton Video Image but rarely used, has been in Germany for the last four months, where the cable channel Sat 1 was using it for Champions League soccer coverage. The system has been improved somewhat during its stay in Germany, now delivering better video quality and smoother playback.
Because of the configuration of Reliant Stadium in Houston, the cameras will be spread out in only a 120-degree arc, compared with 220 degrees in Tampa. That means it basically will cover only one end zone.
The advantage is that the cameras will only be 4 degrees apart, not 12 degrees as they were three years before. That means the replays won't be as jerky, with images from multiple cameras flowing almost seamlessly into each other.
CBS PUSHING NCAA TOURNEY: With the Super Bowl rush in full swing, CBS also is plugging along with its other major property, the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Although buyers report that the NCAA front has been quiet, CBS Sports executive vice president of sales John Bogusz said the network is closing in on being 75 percent sold for the event, a figure that includes several deals that are close to being signed but have not yet been completed.
The five NCAA official corporate partners account for about one-third of the total inventory, he said. He noted that auto manufacturing, led by partner General Motors, which has exclusivity in the domestic category, has been particularly strong. CBS has completed deals with several foreign car makers as well.
Units in the championship game are selling for about $800,000. CBS has been seeking double-digit price increases but settling for around an 8 percent bump, buyers said.
"COLD PIZZA" HOLDING STEADY: The ESPN2 morning show "Cold Pizza" has been getting steady but modest ratings increases.
It made its debut in October, averaging 61,000 households, or a 0.07 rating. In November it edged up to 73,000 homes, or a 0.08, and then hit 81,000 and a 0.09 last month.
Network executives have said a 0.2, which would double what the time slot averaged previously, would be a "home run" for "Cold Pizza."
Andy Bernstein can be reached at abernstein@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
