Why AMC Networks Pivoted to a Mass-Marketing Play With Streaming Super Bowl Spot

variety.com:

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAt around $7 million per 30-second spot, an ad for Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI did not come cheap.

But with more than 112 million viewers having tuned in for the Los Angeles Rams victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, the companies who shelled out that cash would likely think it was worth it to have their spot viewed by that many eyeballs.

That was the case for AMC Networks, a company that prides itself on taking a very targeted approach to its niche streaming services and marketing the platforms to very specific audiences, but went very big during the big game with a spot promoting its flagship platform, AMC Plus.“Specifically for the Super Bowl ad, we felt it was important for AMC Plus, as an extension of our linear business, to let audiences know that the final seasons of franchises like ‘The Walking Dead,’ ‘Better Call Saul’ and ‘Killing Eve’ are now going to be premiering on AMC Plus,” AMC Networks streaming chief Miguel Penella said during a fourth-quarter earnings call with investors Wednesday. “But that is not typically what we do to acquire customers.

What we do to acquire to customers follows a very disciplined approach that includes creating audience profiles and really targeting our marketing campaigns based on our understanding of the customer lifetime value and with a very specific target for the acquired customer.