Fox isn’t the only one reaping an ad sales bonanza from this year’s Super Bowl.
Westwood One Radio, which has held the Super Bowl’s radio rights since the first game in 1967, may not generate the same buzz — or have the same budgets — as the Fox network. But it’s still finding a healthy ad market, with only a handful of spots left, about three minutes out of a total of 40 during the day.
It expects to be completely sold out several days before the game. Westwood One executives say this year’s game is pacing at the same rate as the past few years.
“It’s healthier than it was five years ago,” said David Halberstam, executive vice president and general manager of Westwood One. “People want to be involved in this thing.”
Of course, the price for radio spots pale considerably to the $2.7 million Fox was getting for 30-second spots on its broadcast. By comparison, a one-off 30-second spot on Westwood One’s radio broadcast would cost $25,000.
The game will be carried nationally by 600 stations, including Sirius Satellite Radio. It is anticipating a 3.0 Bruskin rating among adults 18-plus, which equates to 6.8 million listeners.
Many of the advertisers have been with Westwood One all season, with a handful buying packages worth more than $1 million. The biggest radio advertisers this season have been Re/Max, Rolex, Southwest Airlines, Amtrak, Ford and Sprint.
Unlike television, radio broadcasts can be more creative with in-game enhancements. The NFL doesn’t allow them on television. But Westwood One’s radio broadcasts will be full of them.
“Radio has to be creative,” Halberstam said. “We have to cultivate sponsors and engage them and have them more embedded in our games.”
For example, when a team moves inside the 20-yard line, the game announcers, Marv Albert and Boomer Esiason, referred to it all season as “The Heinz Red Zone.” Heinz’s seasonlong deal was worth six figures.
After each touchdown, the announcers will talk about a donation Re/Max is making to the Children’s Miracle Network. The announcers also will talk about a similar donation Barbasol will make to Esiason’s cystic fibrosis charity, the Boomer Esiason Foundation, after each field goal. Esiason’s son has been diagnosed with the disease and he is active in the charity.
Westwood One also signed a promotion with Volvo, which will ferry the show’s host, Jim Gray, around town in a C70. Gray is expected to mention the car — complete with make and model — several times during the broadcast. Volvo did not advertise during the season, opting to come in only for the Super Bowl.
“The Super Bowl is cutting against the grain with regards to the radio industry as a whole this year,” said broadcast consultant David Pearlman, president of Pearlman Advisors. “2007 was not a good year for radio. The industry did not see positive growth this year.”
The Super Bowl numbers present a bit of good news for Westwood One, a company that has had a rough time for the past several months. The company’s stock price dropped 46 percent in two months, from $2.90 on Nov. 13 to $1.57 last week. Earlier this month, it went through a management shakeup, installing Thomas Beusse as president and CEO, succeeding Peter Kosann.
