ABC has sold all the inventory for its March 5 Academy Awards telecast.
Despite slightly lower ratings in 2005 compared with the year before, the three-hour Oscar telecast remains the second-biggest night on television after the Super Bowl, with strong, upscale demos among people who don’t watch much TV.
ABC will continue to get a strong showing from advertisers for its 48 spots within the telecast, which begins at 8 p.m. ET. Sources said the network will receive an average of $1.7 million per 30-second spot, up from about $1.6 million in 2005’s telecast.
In a list of advertisers released Thursday, a couple are new to the Oscars: Coca-Cola Co. and the Miller Brewing Co. The majority are returning to the telecast.
Other advertisers on the ABC list include American Express, AT&T, CareerBuilder.com, Dyson, GM, Kodak, L’Oreal, JCPenney, Mastercard, Masterfoods, McDonald’s, Procter & Gamble and State Farm Insurance. There apparently are other advertisers, though ABC hasn’t released their names.
Despite some carping about the quality of this year’s Oscar nominees, that has little to do with who advertises during the telecast. Most of the spots were locked up long before the finalists were announced, ABC reported.
ABC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hope this year’s telecast regains some of the momentum of years past. The ratings for Oscar night 2005 were down 3 percent to 42.1 million viewers and a 25.4 rating/38 share in national households.
Organizers are looking for a ratings boost from the new emcee, comedian/talk show host Jon Stewart. He follows comedian Chris Rock, who presided over last year’s awards.
