Bell Media braces for U.S. advertising blitz during next year’s Super Bowl thanks to ‘bizarre’ CRTC ruling

As the NFL’s Carolina Panthers prepare to take on the Gambling this Sunday, Bell Media is preparing for the chance this is the last Super Bowl having a guaranteed audience for Canadian ads.

Terence Corcoran: CRTC fumbles its imaginary Super Bowl commercial crisis

If this were 2017, the Victorias secret Super Bowl commercial would be no secret to Canadians watching the sport on CTV. Within demagogic declaration Thursday from Jean-Pierre Blais, head from the obsolete Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the blonde at a negative balance bra featured within the Victorias secret ad for U.S. viewers of the 2015 Super Bowl could be mandated viewing for Canadian NFL fans.

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That’s since the federal regulator has decided to stop Bell, which owns the television rights towards the Super Bowl through broadcaster CTV, from requiring that cable companies carrying U.S. stations broadcasting the sport substitute CTV’s signal to improve the reach of its advertisements. Both Bell and the Nfl have appealed the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission decision towards the Federal Court of Appeal.

Perry MacDonald, senior vice president of English television and local sales for Bell Media, said the demand for advertising slots in this year’s championship game was as strong as ever. The Super Bowl is the most-watched enter in the country and MacDonald said the 9.2 million Canadians who were tuning in on average this past year attracted tens of millions of dollars in advertising revenue.

Super Bowl viewers were even the power behind the CRTC’s decision. When chairman Jean-Pierre Blais made the announcement in early 2015, he argued that although simultaneous substitution, or “simsub,” which is worth about $250 million annually towards the broadcasting industry, was too important to ban completely, throughout the Super Bowl, “advertising is part of the spectacle.”

But MacDonald urged people to take into account the broader repercussions.

“This affects not only iconic Canadian the likes of Scotiabank, Loblaws and Tim Hortons, but also small local business owners across the country that purchase local air amount of time in the Super Bowl broadcast,” MacDonald said.

“Canadian companies have a really diminished chance to market many to Canadians who will be watching U.S. ads for items that they probably can’t even buy. In a struggling economy, and with Super Bowl advertisements easily available online, it is a bizarre approach.”

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The CRTC did not respond to a request comment.

With increasing numbers of people turning to the web for video and abandoning their cable subscriptions, live television events like the Super Bowl are critically important to broadcasters. About two-thirds of the $2.9 billion in revenue Bell Media produced in 2014 came from advertising.



The splashy and expensive advertisements that air in the U.S. throughout the Super Bowl generate hype and excitement independent of what actually happens during the game. This year’s American commercials will feature comedians Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen promoting Bud Light, Liam Neeson boosting LG and Christopher Walken trying to sell viewers a 2016 Kia Optima.

Last year, 114.5 million people watched the Super Bowl on NBC – which makes it the most-watched television enter in American history. This year’s broadcaster is CBS and the company is charging advertisers US$5 million for a 30-second slot, according to an executive on the quarterly earnings call.

MacDonald declined to reveal the price of a Super Bowl ad on CTV, but a resource familiar with the advertising industry said a 30-second commercial airing across the network applies to about $200,000. Which means advertisers are willing to pay about six Canadian cents per American Super Bowl viewer, when compared with about two cents for each Canadian one.

In a struggling economy, with Super Bowl advertisements readily available online, it is a bizarre approach

MacDonald wouldn’t say whether or not this would make financial sense for Bell to bid for Canadian rights towards the Super Bowl in the absence of simsub, but its contract using the NFL lasts until 2019. It’s unclear how the end of simsub would modify the rates Bell is able to charge.

Despite the lack of Fashion followers, Canadian viewers are in fact not as likely to change the channel during the commercials while watching the Super Bowl than as you’re watching other programs, said Loraine Cordery, insights manager with the media agency holding company IPG Mediabrands. Based on an analysis of last year’s ratings data by the company, typically 7.2 million Canadians were watching during Super Bowl commercial breaks, when compared with 8.3 million throughout the game and 10.7 million during the halftime show (yes, the halftime show was more popular than the sport).

“Canadians are certainly involved in those advertisements,” Cordery said. “Whether (the end of simsub) increases viewership of the ads is going to be interesting to see.”

Of course, there would be nothing stopping advertisers from purchasing a united states Super Bowl ad if they wanted to ensure they reach Canadians inside a post-simsub world. But Ron Lund, president and leader of the Association of Canadian Advertisers, said hello wouldn’t be affordable for most companies.

Meanwhile, American companies would obtain the benefit of the additional eyeballs and also the revenue would go to an American network, Lund said. “A policy that mandates watching the U.S. commercials kind of befuddles us.”

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