New York, NY, March 8, 2010 – The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship tips off on March 18th, the closing chapter in a frenetic two months of event TV that has already featured the Super Bowl, Winter Olympics and Academy Awards. As fans across the country get ready to fill out their brackets, advertisers are also anticipating the three week event known simply as “March Madness.”

“The addition of the Winter Olympics to the first quarter special events mix that begins with the Super Bowl and culminates with March Madness has provided a great opportunity to refocus the attention of marketers on the impact of television advertising,” says Mark Nesbitt, president of Kantar Media’s Intelligence sector.  “Considering the importance and presence of the NCAA tournament in digital media, marketers also have the opportunity to harness the potential of integrated cross-platform promotions.  For the advertising industry, it’s really a unique environment and should help to set a positive tone for the rest of the year.”

For many of the companies linking themselves to the tournament, the focal point will be the commercials airing in the CBS coverage of the games. The financial stakes are certainly high for the network, which has held the exclusive TV rights since 1982 and this year is paying the NCAA a license fee of approximately $610 million. The NCAA is expected to opt-out of its $6 billion, 11-year contract with CBS by July 31st and invite new bids in a quest for higher rights fees. The current agreement has three years and $2.1 billion remaining.

An analysis of current statistics and trends conducted by Kantar Media provides insight into how this valuable broadcast property has evolved over the past decade and helps define its relative importance and position within the universe of television sports.

TV Ad Revenue
Over the past 10 years (2000-2009), network TV advertising during the men’s tournament has translated into $4.55 billion of spending from more than 280 different marketers. Total 2009 revenue was $589 million, an 8.5 percent decline from the prior year and the first drop since
2001. Despite the recession, CBS obtained comparable ad pricing in 2009 as in 2008. However, it sold 6 percent less ad time and signed 21 fewer advertisers, causing the revenue drop.

Digital Ad Revenue Is Growing
In 2010, CBSSports.com will again offer “March Madness On Demand”, a free online video player that provides live, on demand streams of all tournament games. The ad-supported webcasts offer presenting sponsors another platform to get their commercial messages in front of viewers.

Online viewership is heavily concentrated in the first two rounds of the Tournament when multiple games are taking place simultaneously and fans are seeking the flexibility to view the action from out-of-home locations or watch games not being telecast on their local CBS
affiliate.

Though growing rapidly from a small base, the digital ad revenue is still a fraction of that generated by the traditional TV broadcasts.

Besides network TV and online advertising, CBS has additional revenue opportunities from the radio, publishing and merchandising rights it controls, as well as the sale of TV ad time on its owned and operated stations.

The #2 Franchise In Post-Season TV Sports
The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is the second most lucrative post-season sports franchise in terms of national TV ad revenue. It consistently brings in more money than the post-season playoffs for Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association or college football. Only the National Football League playoffs, which include the Super Bowl, have a larger intake.

Leading Advertisers

 With CBS airing roughly 65 hours of game and studio programming and offering more than 2,000 commercial slots, the tournament typically accommodates 80 to 100 different advertisers in a given year. However, a small number of marketers enjoy dominant positions. On average, the top five advertisers have recently accounted for about 30 percent and the top ten about 43 percent of total network TV ad spend in the event. Many of the companies in this top tier have corporate sponsorship deals with the NCAA which give them additional opportunities to build marketing programs around the men’s basketball tournament and other NCAA sports.

In 2009, the top ten advertisers spent a total of $252.4 million to pitch their messages at viewers.

General Motors’ Pontiac brand had a long-standing sponsorship with the NCAA and the company has advertised heavily in the tournament over the past decade. Following its emergence from bankruptcy in 2009, GM dropped many of its sponsorship deals. The company has acknowledged severing its relationship with the NCAA for 2010 and said that it will have a reduced advertising presence in this year’s tournament coverage.

Top Ad Categories
The leading ad categories in the tournament are a reflection of the top advertiser list, since many of those elite companies have exclusivity deals that limit access by their main rivals. The top five categories in 2009 invested $309.3 million and accounted for more than 52 percent of the total TV ad revenue.

About Kantar Media
Established in more than in 50 countries, Kantar Media enables exploration of multimedia momentum through analysis of print, radio, TV, internet, social media, and outdoors worldwide. Kantar Media offers a full range of media insights and audience measurement services through its global business sectors – Intelligence, Audiences and TGI & Custom. Combining the deepest expertise in the industry, Kantar Media tracks more than 3 million brands and delivers insights to more than 22,000
customers around the world.  (www.KantarMediaNA.com).

About KantarKantar is one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy networks. By uniting the diverse talents of its 13 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. Its 26,500 employees work across 95 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group’s services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies.

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