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“As a sports marketing event, the collegiate basketball tournament is part of a Final Four alongside the Super Bowl and the Summer and Winter Olympics,” said Dean DeBiase, CEO, TNS Media. “The Tournament is a powerful property for both advertisers and CBS. Its popularity extends to a broad, diverse cross-section of the population and provides marketers with an important opportunity to connect with consumers over a three week period via multiple platforms including TV, online, social media and in-store. It’s an ideal event for utilizing an integrated media mix and interest in the tournament this year should be high. Leveraged correctly, this is a great vehicle for traditional powerhouses and Cinderella brands alike.”

For many of the companies linking themselves to the tournament, the focal point will be commercial spots airing during the 65+ hours of game telecasts on CBS. The financial stakes are certainly high for the network, which this year is paying the NCAA a base license fee of approximately $571 million covering exclusive TV, digital, radio, publishing and merchandising rights for the tournament.

TNS Media Intelligence has once again drawn upon its extensive database to provide the most current statistics and trends on March Madness advertising.

1. March Madness: An Advertising Bonanza
Over the past 10 years (1999-2008), advertising during the Tournament has translated into $4.2 billion of network TV spending from nearly 300 different marketers. In 2008, ad spending reached an all-time high of $643 million, a 24 percent increase from the prior year.

NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament
Network TV Advertising*: 1999-2008

2. Outpacing The Competition
The post-season NCAA Tournament brings in more national TV ad revenue than the post-season playoffs for professional baseball, professional basketball or college football. Only the National Football League playoffs, which includes the Super Bowl, is more lucrative.

2008 Post-Season Sports:
National TV Ad Spend ($ millions)*

Source: TNS Media Intelligence

3. The Price of Advertising
Among the major televised sporting championships, only the Super Bowl commands a higher advertising unit rate than the NCAA Men’s Basketball championship game. College hoops has higher unit ad pricing than the major college football bowl games; the NBA championship; and the MLB World Series.

In terms of cost-per-thousand viewers, the NCAA Final Four games are far more expensive than any of the other annual blue-chip sporting events.

Average Network TV Ad Pricing for Major Sporting Events

4. Top Spending Advertisers in March Madness
March Madness has a core group of TV sponsors that invest heavily in the broadcasts year after year. On average, more than 80% of the tournament’s network TV ad revenue has come from returning advertisers, an above-average retention rate versus other top sporting events.

General Motors, AT&T and Coca Cola have consistently been the leading TV advertisers and in 2008, they spent a combined $140.6 million and accounted for 22 percent of the total ad revenue. Although GM bowed out of both the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards earlier this year, its participation with March Madness continues.

Top 10 TV Advertisers
NCAA Men’s Division 1 Basketball Tournament: 2008

General Motors, Coca-Cola; and AT&T pay additional fees into the NCAA’s “Corporate Champions” program, the organization’s top sponsorship level. This gives them additional opportunities to build marketing programs around March Madness and other NCAA sports.

5. On Demand Video Streaming
In 2009, CBSSports.com will again stream live tournament games over the Internet, making them available on demand and free of charge to PC users with a broadband connection. The ad-supported webcasts offer presenting sponsors another way to get their commercial messages in front of viewers.

Online viewership is heavily concentrated in the first two rounds of the tournament when multiple games are taking place simultaneously and fans are seeking the flexibility to view the action from out-of-home locations or watch games not being telecast on their local CBS affiliate.

Though growing rapidly from a small base, the digital ad revenue is still a fraction of that generated by the traditional TV broadcasts.

NCAA Men’s Division 1 Basketball Tournament:
Offline vs. Online Ad Revenue

About TNS Media
Established in more than 30 countries, TNS Media explores all media - print, radio, TV, Internet, social media, cinema and outdoor worldwide, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and offers a full range of insights, analyses and audience measurement services.

TNS Media combines the deepest expertise in the industry to provide media and marketing intelligence including advertising expenditure monitoring, advertising creation monitoring, audience measurement, market influence analytics, online consumer behavior tracking, news monitoring, sports sponsorship evaluation and more. The TNS Media companies track more than 3 million brands and provide vital market intelligence to 16,000 customers around the world. For further information, please visit www.tnsmediagroup.com

About Kantar Group and TNS
The Kantar Group is one of the world's largest research, insight and consultancy networks. By uniting the diverse talents of more than 20 specialist companies – including the recently-acquired TNS – the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and actionable insights for the global business community. Its 26,500 employees work across 80 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group’s services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies. For further information, please visit www.kantargrouptns.com