FOX will be hosting the Super Bowl this year on February 2, and that means plenty of opportunity to pimp FOX shows. According to industry mag, Adweek, American Idol will get plenty of pigskin promo.
“Football always plays a big role in presenting the Idol campaign,” said Laurel Bernard, evp, marketing of Fox Broadcasting Co. “We plan to continue to have a substantial presence for Idol through the postseason and the Super Bowl.”
The network is expected to put more emphasis on Idol than it did the last time FOX hosted the game, in 2011. Then, the competition was still a top rated show, and more emphasis was given to scripted fare like Glee and House.
Bernard tells Adweek that Idol remains a “top priority.”
FOX is also extending its ad reach to cable channels, and utilizing social networking even more than before.
Idol closed out last season ranked sixth in the 18-49 demo, with a 3.8 rating. “It may not be the draw it once was, but it’s still a hell of a reach [buy],” said a TV buyer who added that the average cost of a 30-second spot in the Wednesday night show dropped around 10 percent to nearly $310,000 a pop.
Just for a comparison, in January 2008, at the start of Season 7, Idol was STILL commanding $700,000 for a 30 second spot on both weekly episodes.
Speaking of the Superbowl. Pop star, Bruno Mars and 90’s favorites, Red Hot Chili Peppers are set as the halftime entertainment.
After the game ends. FOX will follow up with new episodes of New Girl and Golden Globe winning show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
New Girl will feature a star turn from the one and only Prince, who plays himself (from the FOX press release):
Jess (Emmy Award and Golden Globe nominee Zooey Deschanel) is ready to paint the town purple when a chance encounter finds her and best friend Cece (Hannah Simone) invited to a once-in-a-lifetime mansion party thrown by music legend Prince, guest-starring as himself. Not wanting to miss out on the fun, Nick (Jake Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield), Winston (Lamorne Morris) and Coach (guest star Damon Wayans, Jr.) are determined to crash the festivities, building toward an unforgettable ending. The episode also will feature special guest cameo appearances.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine will feature some cameos, too, if not as impressive:
In the all-new “Operation: Broken Feather” episode of BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (airing approx. 11:00-11:30 PM ET/8:00-8:30 PM PT), Jake (Andy Samberg, who won this year’s Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical) and Amy (Melissa Fumero) investigate a string of hotel robberies together, but their partnership is put to the test when he finds out she may leave the Nine-Nine to work in the Major Crimes unit with “The Vulture” (guest star Dean Winters). Meanwhile Captain Holt (Andre Braugher) and Sergeant Jeffords (Terry Crews) strategize to make the precinct more efficient. Fred Armisen (“Portlandia,” “Saturday Night Live”) and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Thiesmann guest-star, among other surprise appearances.
