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Marketers Turn to Oscar For Big, Affluent Audience

Once again, marketers are betting on Oscar to come through for them and deliver a large, sophisticated audience for a live event that viewers will watch without being able to zap through commercials. Advertisers like State Farm, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, AT&T, and American Express paid an estimated $1.68 million for a 30-second spot on the ABC telecast, scheduled for Sunday, March 5. What they are expecting for that princely sum is more than 40 million viewers, many of them in the category of adults between the ages of 18 and 49 who earn more than $100,000 a year, a highly coveted group among advertisers. Indeed, Miller Brewing is running ads during the Oscars for the first time this year, in part because of the chance to run its ads before an upscale crowd. "We are trying to bring sophistication back to the beer category," says Terry Haley, brand manager for Miller Genuine Draft. The telecast is also important for marketers targeting women. Of the 42.1 million people that tuned in to the show last year, 26.5 million were women, according to Nielsen Media Research.

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