Countdown to Super Bowl XLVI – a big week for NBC - Ingles

As the New England Patriots and New York Giants face off in Sunday's Super Bowl, another team also is hoping to gain some much-needed yardage: NBC.

The Comcast Corp. broadcaster long has languished in fourth place among U.S. television networks in prime-time ratings. But a crush of more than 100 million viewers on Sunday could push NBC to No. 3, ahead of Walt Disney Co.'s ABC, in the season-long ratings race.

For the third straight year, Sunday's game could reset the bar as the most-watched telecast in U.S. history.

NBC also is looking to score a more important goal: enticing gridiron viewers to stick around for the rest of the network's shows. To that end, NBC plans to air one of its few new hits, reality show "The Voice," immediately after the game ends.

There are signs that Sunday's game will be a big draw. For the third straight year, it could reset the bar as the most-watched telecast in U.S. history.

This year's playoff games averaged 38.3 million viewers during any given minute, up 1.7% from last year, according to Nielsen. In contrast, the audience for regular-season games had slipped 2.1% to an average of 17.5 million viewers.

Perhaps most importantly, both the Giants and the Patriots have national followings—and drama is left over from their Super Bowl nail biter four years ago.

"The matchup is adding a lot more excitement because of the sheer size of the markets, the fact that you have celebrity-caliber players and a rematch of one of the best Super Bowls," says Paul Chibe, vice president of U.S. marketing for Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, a big Super Bowl advertiser.

Joel Ewanick, General Motors Co.'s ad czar, says having two popular teams from the East Coast may help ratings because viewers in the teams' time zone are more likely to stick around to the end of the game, which doesn't get under way until around 6:30 p.m.

Big ratings could validate the nearly $28 billion, nine-year deal that NBC, CBS Corp. and News Corp.'s Fox struck recently to extend their rights to National Football League games. That deal had fueled growing concerns in the TV industry that costs for live sports are threatening to push consumers' monthly cable bills too high—potentially driving some people to cut their service. (News Corp. also owns The Wall Street Journal.)

For NBC, the upside of a big Super Bowl audience won't come in direct dollars, despite some advertisers' paying a record $3.5 million for 30 seconds of ad time. The network generally won't get any more ad dollars for spots sold in the game if more people tune in than expected. The biggest upside—and biggest challenge—for NBC is whether it can effectively use the game to promote itself.

NBC during the game will air many promotions for its shows, most notably for "The Voice" and its musical series "Smash," which makes its debut the night after the game. The network also is shooting a top-secret promo that involves nearly all the network's stars and has musical elements, according to people familiar with the matter.

NBC plans to stream the big game on the Web—the first time that has happened in the U.S. But the network says it doesn't believe streaming will cut into TV ratings. In part, NBC says the Web offering works better when viewers use it as a complement to TV viewing because it gives them the ability to choose alternate camera angles and to replay highlights.

The online service also will allow viewers to replay the game's splashy commercials—including NBC's promotions.

(source WSJ.com)