The age of streaming has predominantly eliminated monocultural events, making the Super Bowl an illustrious outlier for advertisers.
Per USA Today's Gary Levin, last year's Super Bowl drew 2018's highest Nielsen rating (104.1) by a cavernous margin. A This Is Us episode aired after the Philadelphia Eagles' triumph on NBC earned the top grade for a non-football program at 33.4.
Sweetening the pot, most viewers are willing—and even eager—to watch the commercials. Reaching such a wide-ranging audience is every marketer's dream, so the exorbitant price isn't surprising.
According to Business Insider's Tanya Dua, CBS is billing more than $5 million for a 30-second spot.