☀️ The Box Office Hits Bottom
Who spent (and who didn't) on Super Bowl ads / MLB hints at 2025 streaming service / Another NBA team makes local TV deal
Evenin’! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on SUNDAY February 11, 2023.
Where the CHIEFS may have won the SUPER BOWL… and the PARAMOUNT ad sales team won with the extra Overtime ad slots… plus the #FairytaleEnding of the Taylor-Travis saga #YearOne… but in the big ad race, I gotta give the award to the DunKings. Nice work Matt & Ben (and Tommy) 🙌.
More on the ads below — anyone know when was the last Super Bowl game was without a MARVEL ad 🤔?
Although if you were streaming the game, you may still be watching it … definitely some anecdotal reports out there of a lot of freezing up and delays — including some counting in the minutes length by one of the Ankler folks.
FWIW: My $25 digital antenna delivered a crisp HD, uninterrupted and unbuffered feed of the game on CBS (for free).
UM: It’s also totally reassuring that one of the biggest spenders in the Super Bowl seemed to be… CHINA. Enjoy your TEMU shopping everyone.
ZERO: TV shots of Taylor Swift in the first half 🤷♂️ as far as I saw, though I’ll blame that more on the play of the CHIEFS and Kecle’s uh, one catch in the half.
CBS of course made up for it in the 2nd half, though sadly no shirtless Jason Kelce this time out, in Vegas no less 👎!
THEN: The NFL Wildcard streaming playoff game will be on AMAZON next year, per the WSJ. AMAZON had the right of first refusal from its TNF deal for the January game this year, but passed… so PEACOCK swooped in as we know. But next year we’ll see what the larger AMAZON PRIME subscriber base can do to top PEACOCK’s 23 Million audience tally.
ALSO: Here are your DGA Award winners, with Nolan taking the top prize.
PLUS: The Emmys will be on Sunday Sept. 15 on ABC, up against NBC’s Sunday Night Football as per usual.
AND: There were 516 TV series in 2023, according to the annual list presented by FX at the TCA. That’s down -14% in the strike-addled year.
AHH: IOWA’s Caitlin Clark was thwarted by NEBRASKA today from breaking the women’s collegiate hoops scoring record… and from winning, as she went 0 for the 4th quarter.
SPLITS: Rolling Stone’s top editor Noah Schactman is leaving due to editorial differences with owner Gus Wenner.
🥴: You just know there are some good stories out there at CITI when the company had to send a memo out to employees to cool it on the heavy boozing at client events.
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL
Kudos to the wise Wakeup poll cohorts on Friday as always… although NINERS, ya had yer shot.
ONTO THE SUPER BOWL AD BUYS:
The studios certainly came with a healthy ad spend this year… here’s the roundup with the links, as well as who was missing 👀, and other ad spends to note.