As Super Bowl XXXIX approaches, several VNU businesses released trends related to the big game. VNU has combined data from numerous sources, including television ratings, advertising expenditures, Internet measurement, album sales, box-office, consumer and lifestyle information, merchandise sales, consumer segmentation and targeting, comprehensive market research, and retail consumer sales for an in-depth analysis of the event. The VNU information shows that the Super Bowl reached all areas of media and marketing.

Television Ratings (Nielsen Media Research)

In 2004, the New England Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers for their second Super Bowl victory averaging a 41.4% household rating with an average of 88.8 million viewers in the U.S. The game had the highest average household rating since the 2000 contest between St. Louis and Tennessee, 43.3%, and highest average number of viewers since the 1998 game between the Denver and Green Bay with 90 million viewers.

Local

Nielsen Media Research averaged the local Super Bowl household ratings since 1999 (six games) to find out which market had the highest overall average ratings. Kansas City was the top market overall with an average household rating of 49%. Denver was second at 48.2% and Washington D.C. was third with 47%. See chart.

An NFL View

"We are excited about what promises to be a compelling game between two teams coming off impressive playoff victories," said Chris Ryan, Manager, NFL Media & Network Research. "Additionally, this is the first time in nearly 25 years (since SB XV in 1981, Oakland vs. Philadelphia) that we have two teams from the Top 5 television markets playing against each other."

Over time the Super Bowl has become one of the most watched events of the year. The 1982 Super Bowl is the fourth-highest rated telecast, just behind the final episodes of M*A*S*H, Dallas and Roots Part VIII. Overall, the Super Bowl takes up seven spots of the top-10 telecasts. The 1996 Super Bowl averaged the third-highest average audience, trailing only the final episode of M*A*S*H and the figure skating competition between Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding in the 1994 Olympics. Of the top-40 sports telecasts since January 1961, all but six telecasts were Super Bowls.

Advertising Expenditures (Nielsen Monitor-Plus)

The 2004 Super Bowl aired 49 minutes and 25 seconds of commercial time, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the global leader in competitive advertising intelligence. Fifty-two unique brands aired commercials that competed for viewers' attention.

Categories & Advertisers - The categories that advertised the most in 2004 Super Bowl included Automotive, Beer, Motion Pictures, Soft Drinks, and Prescription Drugs. Automotive doubled its airtime from 3 minutes in 2003 to 6 minutes this year. Beer remained constant at 51/2 minutes. Motion Pictures decreased ad time by 30-seconds from 51/4 minutes to 43/4 minutes. Soft Drinks increased airtime by 45seconds to over 3 minutes. The fifth largest category, Prescription Drugs, was actually a new category for 2004, with 21/4 minutes.

The automotive category included Cadillac, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, and Mitsubishi. Cadillac aired 2 minutes of ads, while Ford ran 11/2. The remaining brands each ran one 30-second spot.

The beverage categories (Beer and Soft Drinks) were dominated by Anheuser-Busch and Pepsi-Cola. Cadbury Schweppes also aired a 30-second spot for its 7Up brand.

In the Motion Picture category, nine different films were advertised, with air times ranging from 15-seconds for "Miracle" and 60-seconds for the thriller "Van Helsing", starring Hugh Jackman.

In the Prescription Drug category, Levitra and Cialis made their Super Bowl debut.

As has been the case for the last five years, Anheuser-Busch had the most commercial time with 51/2 minutes for their Budweiser and Bud Light brands. Pepsi aired almost 3 minutes, while AOL and Cadillac tied for third at two minutes each.

To view the commercials that aired during the last five Super Bowls, visit https://www.nielsenmedia.com/monitorplus/superbowl/