• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, February 12, 2019

Automotive, beers, and mobile phone services were big advertisers during the Super Bowl on CBS.

But the biggest beneficiary of messaging during the game? CBS itself.

Samba TV says CBS -- when including all promotion for all its business and shows -- tallied more than 500 seconds of marketing time during the game, way ahead of paid TV advertisers.

Budweiser came in at just under 200 seconds, while Amazon and NFL followed at around 150 seconds and Toyota, Google, and T-Mobile were at 120 seconds.

This concurs with the data Kantar Media came up with -- showing that CBS aired 9 minutes/55 seconds of promo time.

CBS' efforts are part of a growing historical trend for network promo time during the big game. A year ago, NBC aired 9 minutes/40 seconds of promo time -- versus 7 minutes/30 seconds the year before in 2017; 8 minutes/20 seconds in 2016; and 6 minutes/50 seconds in 2015.

Consider all this when looking at ever-lower traditional prime-time TV networks' viewership -- falling 12% or so this year -- with similar declines over recent TV seasons.

At the same time, TV networks continue to search for a decreasing supply of linear TV prime-time impressions for their on-air promos.

It's not just CBS promo time that rose during the Super Bowl. More time was devoted to the National Football League promos/PSAs -- 2 minutes/45 seconds -- than in previous years -- up from two Super Bowls before (2018, 2017) at two minutes each, and one minute/30 seconds for the two Super Bowls before that in 2015 and 2016.

The Super Bowl witnessed 5% lower TV viewing this year, which seems to shock some TV analysts. But by comparison to the regular prime-time entertainment on CBS, and other networks, where there are double-digit percentage declines, things don't look so bad.

In any event, look for more TV networks airing more promos during the Super Bowl in the coming years -- as well as all regular-season NFL programming and other highly rated live sports, such as post-season NBA and Major League Baseball.

And if that doesn't work, look for networks to seek out similar sports-like places for big-time TV marketing.

Charlie Collier, chief executive officer of Fox Entertainment, recently said the Fox Television Network's new addition to its prime-time lineup -- the pseudo-sports/
entertainment series WWE's “Smackdown Live,” which will air regularly on Friday nights -- will be used to promote Fox entertainment prime-time programming.

Beyond this, where will TV look to bulk up when it comes to gaining marketing muscle?