Nickelodeon’s Super Bowl ad sales struggle—inside the brand confusion

As Paramount gears up for its first slime-ified Super Bowl alt-cast, it could end up the one with goo on its face. The CBS parent company announced last year that it will simulcast a family-oriented Super Bowl alternative for the first time on Nickelodeon, featuring cartoon announcers and animated embellishments. But advertisers that have purchased top-dollar inventory to air national commercials in the game on CBS have been less than clear on how the Big Game’s younger sibling’s simulcast will shake out, or if they’re even in it. “[The Nickelodeon game] felt like such a second, third priority for them,” said one media buyer. “It was more CBS proper and then the Paramount+ stream, and Nickelodeon was so much further back.” Paramount did not respond to requests for comment by deadline. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs When an advertiser purchased a 30-second unit in this year’s game on CBS, they were also granted a mirrored slot on Nickelodeon. A few exceptions for the inventory include adult categories such as alcohol, betting and R-rated movies that are prohibited from advertising on kids’ networks. Super Bowl advertisers could also choose to opt out. Part of the education problem, according to a second media buyer, was the timing of Paramount’s announcement of the Nick game. The buyer said they received word of the added broadcast “after the game was 75% or 80% sold.” The agency then had to revisit the Super Bowl media strategy with each client to determine whether it would be appropriate for the brand to advertise on Nick, what the added value would be of doing so and if they would take Paramount up on its offer to run a second piece of creative aimed at the family audience. While agencies and clients discussed these options, Paramount continued selling CBS’s Super Bowl inventory, which it needed to complete before knowing what inventory would remain on Nickelodeon from opt-outs and banned categories. ‘It doesn’t have the flash’ Paramount announced the Super Bowl on CBS was “virtually” sold out in early November. According to at least three media buyers, Nickelodeon still has between 13 and 15 ad units to sell in the game, leading the buyers to believe few Nick-only units have sold so far as original estimates were that less than 10 would be available. There are also likely at least two to three advertisers that have backed out of Super Bowl advertising, according to the buyers, freeing up more Nick inventory. At least two brands that have announced plans to air Super Bowl commercials expressed confusion about whether they would also be advertising on Nickelodeon, with one saying they weren’t even aware it was an option. “It’s mainly a more efficient way to get into the Super Bowl—and still a very valuable audience [for] much cheaper than 30 seconds on CBS proper, but it doesn’t have the flash [of a main game ad,]” said the first buyer. “Right now, they’re making generous offers to the marketplace to try to sell it, but it doesn’t seem like anyone’s opting in.” The price for a 30-second Super Bowl spot just on Nickelodeon is around $300,000, the buyers said, but they noted initial asks started as high as $500,000. The peak number is still a far cry from the $7 million it costs to advertise in the CBS broadcast, as well as the cost to buy a unit on Paramount+, which runs about $1 million and requires the brand to purchase additional inventory on Paramount+ as well. A person familiar with negotiations noted the price for ads on Paramount+ was higher than $1 million in some cases. Paramount+ is nearly sold out of Super Bowl inventory, with only one or two units left, according to the buyers. Recent news: How Paramount+ is teasing the Super Bowl Also: Ally’s Super Bowl investment is a streaming-only ad buy There also doesn’t seem to be much of a push from Paramount to sell the Nickelodeon game, according to buyers. While the first buyer said they’d gotten a preview of plans for the new game during Paramount’s upfront presentation last year, it wasn’t brought up again until the public announcement later that summer. The first buyer said that while the negotiation process for CBS and Paramount+ inventory was organized and straightforward, it was much harder to get answers about Nickelodeon. When the buyer asked Paramount about the audience size on Nickelodeon, they said they were told to look up the average household reach for the network for themself. The second buyer similarly said no official estimate had been provided, but based on previous Nickelodeon simulcasts, they anticipate the game to make up a low- to mid-single-digit percentage of the total audience. Still, the buyers believe there is value to the game, and added that the majority of their clients had chosen to participate in both broadcasts. Two said all clients had opted to run the same creative across both games. Given the Nick broadcast represents a low-cost opportunity to reach Super Bowl audiences, the first buyer said they were unsure why Paramount wasn’t “reaching out and pounding people’s inboxes” with pitches for Nick. “The advertisers that are already in the Super Bowl are obviously focusing their attention on their creative, and the Nickelodeon piece seems like a bit of an afterthought,” said the second buyer. “But if you’re another marketer that doesn’t necessarily have the budget [for a CBS unit], it could be an opportunity to seize on added conversation and focus on Super Bowl Sunday.”

Nickelodeon’s Super Bowl ad sales struggle—inside the brand confusion

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