This Week in TV News: Ryan Reynolds’ Ad Agency and the Cost of Streaming

This week we’re talking about more new Super Bowl ads, Ryan Reynolds and sports fans’ viewership habits.

More Super Bowl ad highlights. Super Bowl ads are already upon us, and this year’s spots are proving to funny, emotionally stirring, bizarre and more. A Mountain Dew spot features Bryan Cranston and Tracee Ellis Ross recreating The Shining’s “Here’s Johnny” scene. Snickers’ spot is a parody of Coca-Cola’s 1971 Super Bowl ad, “Hilltop.” Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are starring in an Amazon Alexa ad, going back – far back – before the technology existed, making stops in Victorian England and the Old West. See a complete list of Super Bowl ads via Ad Age.

How much are you spending on streaming? MarketWatch has a calculator to help provide the costs of signing up for streaming services in the long run, plus how much you would spend on cable, should you cut the cord or decide to keep your subscription and get streaming services on top. You can select each of your streaming service subscriptions down to the tier, then see that total cost compared to if you, say, invested the money in the stock market. MarketWatch 

Ryan Reynolds has an ad agency. Reynolds and ex-McCann creative George Dewey founded Maximum Effort Productions, a “thoroughly modern creative partnership, where ideas are largely exchanged and developed over text message.” He owns the agency’s biggest clients, Mint Mobile and Aviation Gin. The latter scored a lot of positive attention for its quickly produced ad in response to Peleton’s recent controversial holiday ad. (The Drum)

Sports fans are homebodies. You might assume people want the live, in-the-stadium experience of a sporting event instead of watching a game at home. Nothing compares to the energy and buzz of a big venue on game day, right? Research from the VAB and research company Dynata says otherwise – in fact, nearly three quarters of sports fans prefer to watch sports at home, with 19% preferring a stadium or arena. The study also found sports fans are 24% more likely to visit a site for something they saw in a TV ad versus one seen at a stadium or an arena. (MediaPost)

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