Weekly Reader Students Vote for 'Most Valuable Commercial'

Weekly Reader Students Vote for 'Most Valuable Commercial'

Weekly Reader Research Finds Federal Express Scores a Touchdown With Kids and Teens

STAMFORD, Conn., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Nielsen, 141.4 million people watched part of the Super Bowl. That's second only to last year's game in the history of television. Kids and teens also tuned in with an estimated 40 million kids checking out the gridiron classic -- or about one- third of the total viewing audience.

Weekly Reader Research panelists, ages 5 to 18, were surveyed online regarding a variety of topics surrounding Sunday's big game. More than 68% surveyed said they watched part of the game. More boys than girls watched the game with 74% of boys tuning in versus 63% of girls.

The centerpiece of the survey was asking Weekly Reader Research panelists to pick their favorite Super Bowl commercials and they had a lot to say about the high-priced ads. At an average of $2.5 million per ad, the Super Bowl commercials occupied some of the most expensive advertising real estate in TV history.

So what do kids and teens think? After some Monday-morning quarterbacking, they say Sunday's Federal Express Caveman commercial was their favorite. 15.6% cited the spot and brand on an unaided basis as their favorite ad the day after it aired. The highest rating was among boys -- ages 11-15 -- where it registered a 22.2% score.

When asked what was the best part of the broadcast, the commercials were also cited as the first choice by over one-third of all respondents beating out the game 34.9% to 30.8%. Girls went on to say that the commercials are the number one reason to watch the Super Bowl. By an overwhelming margin -- thirty-eight to twenty percent -- girls selected the ads over the game itself as the top reason to tune in.

Director of Weekly Reader Research Mike Fassino said of the 5-18 year-olds who watched the game, more than half watched the half-time show (57.5%) with girls 11-15 showing the most interest at 67.5%. Boys in this age range also registered high viewing scores with close to 60% watching. To learn how to obtain the complete survey, log onto http://www.weeklyreaderreserach.com/ .

Weekly Reader Research (WRR) provides online survey research with the Teen-to-Tween markets for corporations, trade associations and government agencies. Students can earn points towards great prizes for themselves or for their school.

Weekly Reader Research survey was conducted February 6 and 7 and included 2780 interviews of Super Bowl viewers between the ages of 5-18 nationwide.

About Weekly Reader

Weekly Reader Corporation is a leader in educational publishing. Created in 1902, Weekly Reader(R) publishes 16 magazines and a variety of other supplemental products that reinforce curriculum, help teachers meet standards, and engage students. All sixteen magazines have won awards for excellence in educational journalism. Weekly Reader(R) currently serves approximately nine million students and 300,000 teachers nationwide.

Source: Weekly Reader Research

CONTACT: Mia Toschi, +1-203-524-2422, mtoschi@weeklyreader.com

Web site: http://www.weeklyreaderreserach.com/

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