The Spaceward Foundation

Impressions and Eyeballs: Space Elevator Games Media Exposure

Coverage of the Space Elevator games spans both main-stream and technical media, from
CNN and late-night shows to the Discovery Channel and Popular Science.

Following the 2005 Space Elevator games, the following 90-second clip ran on the main CNN Headline News-loop
every 30 minutes for almost 2 days, and trickled back down to tens of local affiliates nation-wide.

(We could not have made a better intro piece ourselves... Clip may take up to a minute to load.)

Since our mission is to spread the vision of the Space Elevator, we value media exposure that extends beyond the tech-only news channels.
As an advertiser, you can appreciate the balance we strike between the tech-savvy crowd and the much larger tech-curious one.

Nobody remains indifferent to the Space Elevator. It is the fresh, safe, and green way to go to space. It has infinite promise, and it is disassociated from the disappointment of the current space program. The $4,000,000 prize purse, provided by NASA's "outside-the-box" Centennial Challenges program, gives us an added measure of glory.

Overall, there were 250 broadcast spots on the games carried on 159 different stations in over 100 markets.
The results by affiliate are shown in the table. Notable national coverage included CNN Headline News, Fox News, and The Weather Channel.

Affiliate	Audience
ABC	1,970,444
CBS	1,206,070
FOX	1,235,399

Affiliate	Audience
IND	152,051
NBC	1,419,787
TWB	9,488

TOTAL	12,309,402

Affiliate	Audience
UPN	170,577
WB	806,472
Other	5,339,164

(Data from Multivision report ordered by NASA)

The advertising value of a 30-second spot on a standard nation-wide newscast is roughly $100,000,
and so our ad-equivalent value on the national news market was well above $10M.
(See who we're reaching)

Following the 2006 games, in addition to regular news coverage, the Discovery Channel, PBS NOVA, and the Science Channel all ran special segments on the Space Elevator, which aired several times over a period of several months. (Watch the 12-minute NOVA Space Elevator Primer). NOVA viewership alone was over 4,000,000, With Discovery Channel well surpassing this value. (a brief note on NOVA demographics)

The advertising value for a complete hour-long program on Discovery is roughly $1M, and so our ad-equivalent value on the various science/tech channels amounted to well above $5M.

Throughout the year, we have given interviews for TV and radio talk-shows (local, national, and foreign) at a rate of about one per month, keeping up awareness of the upcoming 2007 event.

In addition, our teams (see list) represent a cross section of local markets where interest in the home team results in extra coverage. Local-market TV spots sell for $25,000 to $40,000, and our total ad-equivalent value on the aggregate local markets was over $1M.

Print media has covered us extensively as well, including tech oriented magazines (Wired, Discover, Popular Science...) and mainstream ones. As before, we measure our success by penetration of the mainstream media - for example: CNN Money/Business 2.0, NY Times, LA Time, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Economist...

We have received hundreds of print spots nation-wide. The value of print ads in newspapers and magazines varies widely, but since our coverage was typically on the front page of the science or business section, a value of $25,000 is reasonable. Our ad-equivalent value in print media is therefore well over $5M.

On-site impressions depend on the venue we showcase at. The 2006 X-Prize games attracted 20,000 visitors, and the Space Elevator games took up about a third of the ground area. The X-Prize games attract an air-show like audience, and this year's games are expecting 50,000 people. Demographics for air show audiences can be found here.

The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, with an annual attendance of 2,000,000 (demographics), is planning a Space Elevator exhibit for next year, and will display climbers from our competition, alongside models we create, as centerpieces of the display.

Web exposure is led by our web site, with close to 10,000 unique visitors per month. Our efforts in web exposure are aided by Alan Chan of Sony Entertainment, who created the video clip that became the unofficial ambassador of the Space Elevator community and is an integral component of almost everything we do.

Leading to the 2007 games, we are already receiving media inquiries, and expect the interest level to be at least as high as preceding years. Adding to our anticipation is the expectation that the $1,000,000 prize purse will be awarded this year. Several independent production companies are looking at documenting the teams towards the competition, and the major networks will definitely cover it.

NASA is sponsoring the $4,000,000 prize purse at least through the year 2010, and so we're looking forward to 4 more years of excitement. When we (and you) hand the cardboard checks over to one of the student teams, coverage will increase significantly relative to previous years.

SO WHO ARE WE REACHING OUT TO?

Channel Type	General	News Media	Technical and Business News	Web Site	Tech Museum	On-Site
Examples	CBS Sunday News Vanity Fair, Maxim in-flight magazines	CNN BBC News Daily Newspapers	Discovery Channel Popular Science Wired	www. elevator2010.org	Chicago MSI San Jose Tech	X-Prize Cup
Characterization	Ideal for consumer goods, these are the widest possible media channels, catering to the general public. People tune in to morning talk shows and general circulation magazines in order to be lightly entertained.	These are still very wide channels, though the audience is tuning in in order to get informed. They are focused and are paying attention rather than just being within ear-shot.	Ideal for a technical sponsor, these channels reach the tech-savvy and tech-curious audience. With a high fraction of engineers, scientists, and engineering and business students, they are highly educated and informed, and are more likely to make buying decisions at their work place. Biased towards professionals, this category strikes the best balance between quantity and quality.	People arrive at our web site overwhelmingly after either searching for "Space Elevator", or after reading about it elsewhere and linking in. They are, at the moment and by definition, space enthusiasts. They are also looking favorably at what they are learning. High fraction of engineering students, science and robotics enthusiasts.	Tech museum audiences are also local in nature, though their cross section is decidedly more educated and affluent than the on-site audience. Who do you know that goes to the tech museum?	Our on-site audience is a meld between an air-show and a space conference demographic cross section. Most of them are local to where the event is held.
Our Exposure	Occasional.	Show time, plus occasional morning news programs or special features.	Show time, plus specials and documentaries year-round.	Year-round, with higher traffic around show time.	Year-round.	Show time.
Sponsorship options	Title	Title, Arena (partial)	Title, Arena (partial)	Title, Web	Title, Museum	Title, Arena
		Added exposure: Current, attentive, news-savvy.	OUR CORE STRENGTH - A persistent, positive message that appeals to an educated, tech-savvy, and influential demographic.			Added exposure: Space enthusiasts, local residents.

For more information on the competition, please visit our competition home page
or contact us at or 650-969-2010.