Coming down to the wire, along with a little nail-biting, CBS (CBS-A) was finally able to close out its Super Bowl spots in several late deals.
"It was a race to the wire," says one media-agency executive. "But this isn't uncommon. There are always a couple of spots that are sold the week leading up to the event."
Two of the known buyers were The Weinstein Co. and T-Mobile.
The Weinstein Co., owner by Harvey and Bob Weinstein, bought up a fourth-quarter spot for their soon-to-be-released "Hannibal Rising." The movie is to be released on February 9, less than a week after the Super Bowl.
For T-Mobile, they also bought a fourth quarter spot for an unspecified piece of the creative.
The terms of the deals weren't released but estimates are that they are probably in the low $2 million for each 30-second spot. The prime spots were reportedly in the $2.6 million range.
Studios didn't get involved this year as in the past, when there were usually participation by all the majors. This year there were two majors along with The Weinstein's Co. Disney (DIS) bought two spots: one for "Wild Hogs," and the other for "Meet the Robinsons." Lionsgate bought one for their film "Pride."
The usual average for the five major studios has been buying between five and eight spots for the Super Bowl. This is probably related to a lot of cost-cutting and focusing on new platforms.
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