Fox May Have Sold $215 Million in Super Bowl Ads

By Gillian Wee

(Bloomberg) — News Corp.‘s Fox network may get as much as $215 million in advertising revenue for its Super Bowl broadcast on Feb. 3, including pre- and post-game shows, according to a person with knowledge of the sales.

The contest itself may take in $170 million, said the person, who asked not to be named because the sales numbers aren’t public. The 63 30-second slots went for an average price of $2.7 million each.

Fox sold its last spot on Jan. 29, earlier than the four other Super Bowl games it has hosted. The network sold 90 percent of its space two months before the game as marketers sought out shows where viewers are less likely to skip ads with digital recorders. Ads purchased after Hollywood writers went on strike Nov. 5 fetched as much as $3 million, the person said. That’s higher than the $2.6 million CBS Corp. reached last year.

Teri Everett, a News Corp. spokeswoman, declined to comment.

The four-hour pre-game show and post-game programming will bring in about $45 million, the person said.

Fox also sold $10 million of ads for the drama “House” that runs after the game. Owned-and-operated TV stations took in local ad sales of $35 million, including the Super Bowl, pre-and post-game shows, and “House,” the person said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gillian Wee in New York at gwee3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 31, 2008 16:05 EST

via bloomberg.com