Mike Pilot, President Sales and Marketing, NBC Universal
Most of you watched the Super Bowl this past weekend. Not only was it the most watched television program in history, but it was also the highest revenue day ever for a Super Bowl Sunday. Think about that… with everyone reading about audience fragmentation at the broadcast networks, to be able to break viewership and revenue records in a single day is beyond remarkable.
But here’s why. As we saw with the Beijing Olympics, when you put on great programming that people want to watch, they’ll be there. And I’m particularly proud of the work that went into making this a record revenue day for NBCU. It certainly wasn’t without its challenges. NBC’s first Super Bowl in 11 years also happened to coincide with the same selling season as the Beijing Olympics. We knew this going in, so our team got an early start on selling the game; earlier than usual because we knew we’d be in the market trying to sell two huge global events within six months of each other. And that early start made all the difference.
So, we were 85% sold out when we left for Beijing in August, and when we came home, the world had changed. In the face of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, the advertising world, like many businesses, stopped short. Many historical advertisers didn’t return to the game this year. This was the first Super Bowl ever without a domestic auto advertiser, for example. And, in addition to the Super Bowl being a large dollar commitment, we were also dealing with the optics surrounding the purchase of a $3 million spot in a very challenged financial climate.
Our team overcame these obstacles with extraordinary determination and collaboration that involved the entire company. In addition to our amazing sales team, we had another important advantage. Our clients had just watched the Olympics and knew that this Super Bowl would have the singular quality of a Dick Ebersol and NBC Sports production. It was a key factor for our clients in their decision-making.
The Super Bowl also offered us another great opportunity. Many of our biggest clients were joining us for the game, and we set time aside during the weekend to show them a sneak preview of our programming plans for the fall. We reinforced our message of being innovators who are focused on helping customers grow their businesses.
