Super Bowl ads will never be the same.
That's because television's most-desired and -watched commercials will not only be seen on television, as CBS will reportedly live-stream every single national ad that supports its February 7, 2016 telecast of Super Bowl 50. And CBS will do it as close to real-time as possible, although experts predict a delay of 20 to 30 seconds between the national TV broadcast and the live-stream ads.
Pulling out all the stops for Super Bowl 50 could have huge ramifications for the media business, setting a tone for sponsors to evaluate potential TV ratings and online impact simultaneously from here on out.
"It's a huge deal," one buyer with knowledge of the splashy CBS move told Variety. "They are not going to let people opt out [of live-streaming]."
Live-stream Super Bowl ads have been part of the annual affair in the past, but they've never been bundled and sold as a combined deal to advertisers, the way CBS is trying to boldly do with Super Bowl 50.
Given the current viewing culture of people watching TV with a laptop or tablet in their hands, many analysts just think this move to sell TV ads and live-stream spots together as a packaged deal is simply a sign of the times.
"Given that splintering of viewing behavior, why wouldn't advertisers demand that the presenting broadcaster ensure that their expensive and heavily promoted ads are seen across every viewing environment by which the game is being watched?" Tim Hanlon, founder and chief executive of the Vertere Group, a Chicago-based media-industry consultant, told Variety.
One of the Super Bowl's biggest annual sponsors, Anheuser-Busch, already seems to be on board buying into TV ads and live-stream commercials.
"We know viewers look forward to our iconic ads, and Anheuser-Busch will indeed return for Super Bowl 50 as exclusive category advertiser," Jorn Socquet, vice president of marketing at Anheuser-Busch, also told Variety.
With the news, also comes a price increase for Super Bowl spots, with CBS reportedly wanting at least $4.5 million to $4.7 million for a 30-second ad for the 2016 game, which is up from the $4.4 million to $4.5 million that NBC commanded last year.
It will also be interesting to see if the addition of live-stream ads boost live-stream numbers of the Super Bowl webcast, altogether. The Super Bowl XLIX webcast, this past February, generated $2.5 million unique viewers, which is a nine percent increase from the big game in 2014. Those numbers can dramatically rise if online viewers can also see commercials.
Since 2009, every Super Bowl television broadcast has recorded more viewers than the one before, hitting an all-time high average of 114.4 million viewers with the 2015 game, making it the most-watched broadcast in television history.
Next February, viewers are bound to have laptops and tablets on, tuned into CBS, along with their televisions for Super Bowl 50. Will you be one of many to do so?
