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Lakers-Celtics Matchup Seen Driving Strong Ad Sales for ABC

Jun 2, 2008  •  Post A Comment

With a dream matchup in the NBA Finals pitting the storied Boston Celtics against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, ABC/ESPN Sports is expecting strong demand for ad spots in the series.
“We have a lot of interest,” said Ed Erhardt, president of ESPN and ABC Sports customer marketing and sales. While most of the network’s inventory in the game sells before the playoff matchups are set, “There’s always late money,” especially from movie studios, insurance companies and quick-serve restaurants.
Mr. Erhardt said the network is raising the ratings estimate on which it bases the price of ads to an 11 rating now that the Celtics are playing the Lakers. That should boost the $400,000 or so price tag for 30 seconds in the Finals. Ratings estimates and prices had been rising as the two marquee teams advanced in the playoffs.
Last year, ABC took a bath on the Finals when the San Antonio Spurs beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in four games and drew a record low 6.2 rating.
With the Lakers and Celtics sure to draw an audience, ABC is able to release most of the spots it had been reserving to make good advertisers in case of underdelivery of viewers.
“As the story starts to unfold, we’ll see if the series lives up to the hype. If it does we’ll have a nice little pop here,” Mr. Erhardt said.

4 Comments

  1. I won’t watch one minute of that NBA garbage! I only hope it’s a 4 game sweep to end that junk as fast as possible!

  2. i think this is the stuff dreams are made of. The two best NBA teams facing each other once again, after such a long long time. The Celtics are resurrected and the Lakers are determined. I eagerly await every second of the games. Go Celtics!!!

  3. Well, Mike, it’s a good thing, you alone, don’t matter, and no one cares what you think. This looks to be the most exciting Finals in quite some time, for a lot of people, and I think it’s a pretty safe bet it’ll be one of the highest, maybe the highest-rated Finals since Jordan retired. Second, on the ‘Go Celtics’!

  4. Mike your a dumbass if you are not watching it why comment on it.

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