SUPER BOWL ALREADY 80 PERCENT SOLD OUT

The 2011 Super Bowl may seem like a long way off, but Advertising Age reported today (Tuesday) that Fox has already sold about 80 percent of commercial availabilities for its annual coverage of the most-watched event on television. AdAge commented that the early deals serve as “a signal that advertisers are moving earlier than ever to secure good positions in TV programming that still has the power to secure a broad audience.” Advertiser interest may have been spurred by last year’s CBS telecast which produced the biggest U.S. television audience for any program in history — 106.5 million viewers. Citing a person familiar with the situation, AdAge said that Fox is seeking $2.8-3 million for a 30-second spot during the game, slightly more than what CBS asked in 2009. But it took CBS until September of last year to sell 70 percent of its Super Bowl inventory, the trade publication observed.