What are some of the most interesting facts that you need to know when it comes to advertising in Times Square on New Year’s Eve? Continue reading to learn more! This article contains affiliate links, which means that I will get a small commission only if you decide to purchase after clicking on the link.
The world’s most well-attended New Year’s Eve party is held annually at Times Square on New Year’s Eve, New York City.
When the Waterford Crystal ball is dropped from One Times Square to celebrate the beginning of the New Year is often considered the unique element of the festivities. Of course, you were aware of it previously.
Advertising in Times Square on New Year’s Eve: The Ball Drop
However, there are some interesting tidbits about the party that you probably haven’t heard:
1. Concept of Time Ball
The concept was conceived by The New York Times’ publisher, who was influenced by the widespread use of “time balls” in other cities.
These “time balls,” popular in the 19th century, would drop from buildings every day at a particular moment to assist inhabitants in setting their watches at the appropriate time.
For example, the one located at Western Union headquarters in New York City would do so at noon.
2. Colors in Waterfall Crystal Ball
The most recent iteration of the Waterford Crystal ball can display over 16 million colors. In addition, at the Times Square on New Year’s Eve the ball is brighter and heavier than it was before.
Weighing up at a hefty 700 pounds, the new Times Square ball is an upgrade over the old, which included just 100 lamps.
Like Epcot Center at Disney World, today’s ball is a geodesic sphere, but it weighs 11,875 pounds, has more than 32,000 LEDs, and can be seen from space.
3. Cost of advertising in Times Square
The cost of advertising at Times Square is very variable especially at Times Square on New Year’s Eve. It depends on several criteria, such as the kind of media used, the size of the billboard, its specific placement and visibility, and the length of the campaign.
Standard daily billboard rates might range from $5,000 to $50,000.
Fortunately, there are reasonably priced advertising options in the Times Square area. For Example, using the linked media platform Five Tier, you can receive a 15-second visual placement with up to 1,500,000 impressions per day for as little as $500.
The high cost of advertising at Times Square may be partially explained by the fact that it attracts a far larger audience than billboards in other parts of the city.
Many companies are prepared to spend exorbitant sums of money to have their brands shown in such a prominent manner. But let’s find out how much attention a Times Square ad gets.
Image source: bmediagroup.com
4. Number of impressions Times Square Advertising generate
On average, over 360,000 people visit this tourist hotspot every day, reaching as high as 450,000 on the busiest days of the year like Times Square on New Year’s Eve, as reported by Times Square NYC.
While the daily totals of 125,000 to 190,000 people affected by the worldwide epidemic have decreased over the last two years, they are still staggeringly high.
This indicates that a firm that chooses to advertise in Times Square on New Year’s Eve may anticipate receiving at least 200,000 unique daily impressions of its ad, supposing that each visitor views the advertisement at least once.
This would result in a fantastic 2,800,000 images for this site throughout the campaign’s full two weeks.
For example, if you paid $7,000 daily for a billboard and displayed it for a year, you would get 150,000,000,000 impressions (at a rate of 400,000 per day).
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5. Most expensive billboard in Times Square
The tall high billboard at 1535 Broadway, which measures 125,000 square feet and costs the most to rent, is Times Square’s most extensive and costly advertisement screen.
It was hired for the first time by Google in 2014 for the mind-blowing sum of $2.5 million for four weeks of display time, and it continues to be one of the most famous advertising sites in Times Square.
6. Times Square full of ads
The increasing number of tourists and the large volume of foot traffic in the area—on average, 360,000 people per day before the worldwide pandemic—have led to an abundance of advertisements in Times Square.
Considering the massive annual audience that watches media coverage of Times Square on New Year’s Eve, this event is one of the most lucrative public advertising locations in the world for firms looking to get their names out there.
In fact, in 1997, one of the tower’s first electronic billboards indicated a net income of $7 million per year for advertisers, encouraging more and more businesses to begin allocating funds to Times Square.
Companies like Google, Samsung, Budweiser, and Apple have all used this New York landmark to showcase their products to tourists.
7. Average size of a Times Square billboard
According to Business Insider, one of the most unexpected things about Times Square is that billboards often have more floor space than a standard New York City apartment.
Times Square billboards, on average, are 2,013.25 square feet in size, whereas a typical New York City studio apartment is less than 784 square feet in length.
This is exceptionally astounding, and it simply highlights the enormous level of attention that advertising in Times Square gives to organizations ready to put a substantial lot of cash into it.
8. First advertising ever on Times Square
According to Wikipedia, everything can be traced back to the first advertisement ever placed on the One Times Square Tower. This billboard, built-in 1996 by Cup Noodles and had steam effects that attracted the attention of the billboard, is credited with starting it all.
As time went on, it was joined by a moving Budweiser sign and then others, such as ITT Corporation, Panasonic, Sony, General Motors, and many more.
Two years later, Discover Card took over as the primary sponsor and operator of the most prominent screen at One Times Square from ITT company under the terms of a 10-year contract.
Additionally, the corporation became the official sponsor of the New Year’s Eve 2000 celebrations in Times Square.
The Times Square on New Year’s Eve ball drop is widely recognized as the beginning of the New Year celebrations all around the globe, with an estimated one billion people tuning in to witness the event annually, as stated on the Times Square website.
Because of the continuing COVID-19 epidemic, the Times Square on New Year’s Eve ball drop will occur in a virtual reality setting this year.
That was the first time since the tradition of celebrating the last day of the year in Times Square started in 1907 that no people would be gathered there to celebrate.
Instead, people may celebrate the new year in peace by staying inside and tuning in to the live broadcast or streaming video of the ball’s descent on television or the internet.
Although this year’s ball drop will go down in history as one of the most remarkable ever, the custom of dropping the ball at midnight on New Year’s Eve has a rich and varied background.
9. Who rents the billboards in Times Square?
Many advertising agencies service the Times Square area, such as ABC Super sign, American Eagle Times Square, Branded Cities, City Outdoor USA, Clear Channel Outdoor, Express Screen, Neutron Media, New Tradition, Out-front Media, and many more.
You may contact any of these individual sign holders to hire digital screens, billboards, full-motion digital displays, and experiential marketing events in Times Square.
You should expect to pay more or less depending on several variables, including the medium you choose to rent your billboard (as discussed above) and the number of times it is shown.
While the cost of advertising in Times Square is undoubtedly higher than in many other locations around the globe (and even on specific internet platforms), there is a good rationale for this.
10. No New Year’s Eve during war
The “dimout” of lights in New York City during the war years caused the yearly celebration to be postponed from 1942 until 1943. Still, crowds gathered in Times Square for a minute of silence at the stroke of midnight, followed by the sound of chimes emanating from sound trucks.
The ball used to celebrate 2021 had 2,688 triangles made of Waterford Crystal. During the New Year’s Eve celebrations, over Times Square, more than one ton of confetti is dropped from the sky.
The colossal numerals for the year 2022 stand at 12 feet and have a combined weight of 1,130 pounds.
Bonus: About a Million People Usually Watch in Times Square!
They usually need to come about midday to get the best viewing places, but no public restrooms are accessible in the immediate region during Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
As a result, many individuals report wearing adult diapers or locating the nearest bottle to relieve themselves.
Times Square on New Year’s Eve is a one-of-a-kind experience. With all the advertising and excitement, it’s a great place to ring in the new year. The ten fun facts about advertising in Times Square on New Year’s Eve were mentioned above.
