Games lift CCTV ad sales by 12pc
The sales of prime-time advertising slots for CCTV have jumped by 12 per cent year on year to 8.03 billion yuan, fuelled by an Olympic frenzy and a booming economy.
The annual auction, the 14th in a row, is not entirely comparable from year to year because of slight variations in packages for each year, but the much-hyped sales of advertising slots on China Central Television is widely seen as a barometer of the macroeconomy and business sentiment on the mainland.
A record 200 companies, including top names such as Procter & Gamble and Air China, have joined the fray.
However, financial institutions are most prominent in this year's auction for highly sought-after slots from the 7pm news to the end of TV dramas at 10pm on CCTV 1 and 8.
The Bank of China clinched the time slot leading into the major weather forecast bulletin on CCTV 1 for 36.66 million yuan.
But it is the maker of sports beverage Red Bull that stole the show at the auction by coughing up a staggering 158.9 million yuan for the so-called first slot, an exclusive association right to Today's Star - a segment profiling Olympic stars each day during the special coverage of the 16-day Olympic Games in Beijing next August.
Many premium slots during the Games were snatched up by some Olympics sponsors before the auction, but non-Olympic slots are equally contested on the back of the mainland's runaway economic growth.
Longliqi, which specialises in personal care products, paid 64.96 million yuan for exclusive advertising rights to a youth singing competition - up by more than 15 per cent for the same slot last year.
Nice Group, a soap and detergent manufacturer in Zhejiang , splashed out 239 million yuan on an exclusive sponsorship right to a TV drama slot on CCTV next year.
However the auction has borne its share of controversy over the years. Several brand names, including Shandong-based liquor distiller Qinchi, have had to declare bankruptcy, partially because of overspending at such auctions.
