TheBuzz Erika Engle

Sponsors seek a super-response Sunday

The costliest TV commercials of the year will run during some football game that will also be on. CBS is getting an estimated $2.6 million for each national 30-second spot, but local affiliates also get some air time to sell.

Rick Blangiardi, senior vice president and general manager of KGMB, did not disclose KGMB's rate -- a figure somewhere south of the network rate -- but described it as "fair."

The station had no trouble selling out its time, Blangiardi said.

It has been sold out "maybe since December first," said Kristina Lockwood, general sales manager.

Companies whose spots will air locally are: Galiher DeRobertis Ono, Attorneys at Law; Hawaii Employers Mutual Insurance Co. (HEMIC); AIG Hawaii Insurance Co. Inc.; Automotive Warehouse Inc.; Jack in the Box; Straub Clinic & Hospital; University Health Alliance (UHA); and General Motors Corp. has bought time to represent local dealers.

"It's not unusual for people to have fresh creative for the Super Bowl," Blangiardi said, however, all the local commercials won't necessarily be making their debut.

AIG Hawaii will premiere a spot for a third year, according to Brad Shin, partner and creative director for Hendrix Miyasaki Shin Advertising Inc., AIG Hawaii's ad agency.

It was not created specifically for the big game, "but it's meant to be kicked off during the Super Bowl," he said.

"Half of the people are watching the game, not for the game, but for the commercials," he said.

The spot will feature the AIG crew of three people, sort of "the Hollywood presentation of AIG employees," in its Toyota FJ Cruiser -- advancing the company's current campaign touting the "AIG advantage," Shin said.

Separately, only viewers with high-definition TV sets who receive stations' HD signals over the air will see the game in HD -- a mere droplet amidst the ocean of viewers, according to research commissioned by KGMB.

Blangiardi and Oceanic Time Warner Cable President Nate Smith wanted to reach some agreement, even if just for the game, but the decision was beyond the reach of a local handshake.

"This is a national issue," Blangiardi said, "and there are some very strong business principles and beliefs with respect to the situation."

KGMB's research shows that 77 percent of the population does not own an HDTV set. Fourteen percent own one, while six percent have more than one.

Signal type notwithstanding, the official Super Bowl broadcast to start at 1 p.m. In a confluence of nonaccidental factors, it will be airing during February sweeps, or the Nielsen rating period that begins tomorrow.