Giving a big push to its fast-growing streaming TV platform, Fox Corp.’s Fox Television Network will simulcast the Super Bowl next month with Tubi -- hoping to boost promotion into more everyday viewing of the service.
And yes, Tubi, a FAST channel (free ad-supported streaming TV) platform, will be offered free to consumers.
In addition, Tubi will offer much pre-Super Bowl programming starting on the Friday before the effort, January 28, on Tubi’s NFL Channel.
On Super Bowl day itself, February 9, Fox Sports will offer a pre-game show “Tubi Red Carpet at the Super Bowl LIX”, starting at 3:30 p.m.
For years, broadcast-centric media companies like Fox Corp. have used the Super Bowl to promote key prime time or special events -- especially those on the rise.
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Tubi is one of its upcoming big revenue drivers, where company executives have been estimating advertising revenue to exceed $1 billion.
The Super Bowl’s massive near 120 million average minute viewers provide a once-a-year major marketing boost for a TV-based media company -- during the game itself with on-air promotion, as well as programming content that follows the NFL game.
Last year, CBS’ season premiere episode, “Tracker” pulled in 18.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen. The all-time viewing record is held by NBC’s “Friends," airing a special one-hour episode in 1996 which pulled in 52.9 million viewers.
The second-highest total was in 2001 for CBS’s “Survivor: The Australian Outback,” a season premiere at 45.4 million; and CBS’s "Undercover Boss” season premiere scored 38.7 million in 2010.
In 2011, NBC’s “Super Bowl XLVI” became available for the first time on the NFL website (NFL.com) and NBC’s website (NBCSports.com) through Verizon’s NFL Mobile app.
In February 2022, NBC simulcast the game for the first time with its new streaming platform, Peacock, for “Super Bowl LVI”. In February 2024, CBS Television Network simulcast “Super Bowl LVIII” with its streamer Paramount+, and kids cable network Nickelodeon.
In the past legacy media companies like NBCUniversal, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery have regularly used on-air promotion messages to tout all kinds of owned-theatrical movies (and that of competing movie studios content), TV prime-time shows and other media business.
How will future legacy TV networks use the biggest annual TV show of the year to glean even more promotional value -- as well as some $400 million in advertising revenue for all Super Bowl day programming?
It’s left to see where the next level of integrated marketing efforts will go from here -- more connected TV programming, maybe better engagement efforts for its products?
Look for TV networks to run up the score.