The Office checks in as latest post-Super Bowl entree
01/30/09 11:43 AM
By ED BARK
Networks used to use the big post-Super Bowl "platform" to launch new series before the often less than watchful eyes of besotted, bloated American viewers.
But that hasn't happened since Fox first put Family Guy on the map after 1999's Super Bowl XXXIII matchup between the victorious Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons.
A decade later, NBC's followup act will be a "super-sized" one-hour episode of The Office titled "Stress Relief." It includes guest shots by Jack Black, Jessica Alba and Cloris Leachman.
NBC still holds the post-Super Bowl viewership record with 1996's guest star-juiced episode of Friends, which featured appearances by Julia Roberts, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chris Isaak and Brooke Shields. It drew 52.9 million viewers after 94.1 million viewers watched the Dallas Cowboys beat the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Last year's post-Super Bowl episode of House had a comparatively paltry 29 million viewers on Fox, even though the New York Giants-Patriots game averaged an all-time record of 97.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Depending on the closeness of the game, the Arizona Cardinals-Steelers matchup has a shot at becoming the first Super Bowl to average 100 million viewers. Whatever the audience, sponsors reportedly will be paying a record $3 million for each 30-second spot during the game. That's up from $2,699,963 for the previous year, says Nielsen.
Super Bowl I, won by the Green Bay Packers over the Kansas City Chiefs, was the only one shown on two networks. Back in 1967, a 30-second ad grab cost a piddling $42,500 on CBS and $37,500 on NBC.
The $1 million price tag for a Super Bowl commercial wasn't reached until 1995, when sponsors paid $1,150,000 for ads on Super Bowl XXIX between the winning San Francisco 49ers and the blown out San Diego Chargers.
Things escalated in a hurry after that, with the $2 million mark reached in 2000 for the Super Bowl XXXIV thriller between the victorious St. Louis Rams and Tennessee Titans, who came up a yard short of a tying TD on the game's final play.
Kurt Warner, the quarterback for that Rams team, will be back in the saddle Sunday as the Cardinals' pass master. NBC, The Office and advertisers will be rooting for another super-close one.
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