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Roll out the red carpet: one of advertising’s biggest nights is about to commence.
The Oscars, airing on Sunday night, are still bringing in the big bucks for ABC, even as viewership for the annual awards show has suffered in recent years. The company said Wednesday that it sold out of all 60 ad slots available in the broadcast.
In recent weeks, the average price for a 30-second ad in the telecast reached ~$1.7 million, according to data provided to Marketing Brew by Standard Media Index, which tracks ad spending at major advertising agencies; some deals were as high as $2.2 million per unit, according to one source with knowledge of the rates. (Disney declined to confirm these rates to Marketing Brew.) Last year, rates were reportedly in the $2 million–$2.2 million range.
The sellout comes despite the Oscars’s lagging ratings. Last year’s downsized event saw its smallest audience ever, with 10.4 million people tuning in. That figure was down by more than 50% compared to the prior year, which was, at the time, the previous record low.
Disney is hopeful that may change. In talks with advertisers, the network framed the year as a “rebuilding year,” said Adam Monaco, Disney Advertising Sales’s EVP of sales.
“It’s still the Super Bowl for entertainment,” Monaco told Marketing Brew.
With that said, temper your expectations: “We’re still in a pandemic, so while moviegoing is still not where it used to be, there’s still a passionate interest around films,” Monaco said.
Better late than never: Advertisers were hesitant to make big commitments to the broadcast until later than normal. More sales came through during the scatter period than during the traditional upfront, which Monaco credited to some of the “uncertainty” around the show, including whether it would have a host. (This year’s telecast will have three hosts: comedians Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer, and Regina Hall.)
Who’s advertising: Advertisers during the broadcast will represent more than a dozen different categories, ranging from auto and financial services to streaming, entertainment, and tech. Streaming services will have a significant presence in the broadcast, with CNN+, Discovery+, Disney+, Paramount+, and Peacock all slated to appear in the broadcast. And for the first time, cryptocurrency will be present during the broadcast, with Crypto.com buying an ad spot. Other advertisers, including Verizon and Cadillac, are returning as loyal Oscars sponsors.
Cash cow: Oscars Sunday perennially generates more ad revenue for the network than any other day of the year, according to the data-analytics firm Kantar. Last year, the awards ceremony itself attracted more than $115 million in ad spend, according to data Kantar provided to Marketing Brew. But that number was down slightly from 2020, which saw $129 million in total ad spend.