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'Sunday Night Football' Remains Costliest TV Show

Prices Overall See Decline; ABC's 'Flash Forward' Is Highest-Priced Freshman

By Brian Steinberg
Published: October 26, 2009

	ABC	CBS	NBC	FOX	CW
7 P.M. (ET)	America's Funniest Home Videos $75,893	60 Minutes $93,772	Football Night in America $108,275 Dateline Sunday $21,200
8 P.M. (ET)	Extreme Makeover: Home Edition $136,743	The Amazing Race $109,736	Sunday Night Football $339,700 Celebrity Apprentice $110,283	The Simpsons $201,920 The Cleveland Show $158,701
9 P.M. (ET)	Desperate Housewives $228,851	Three Rivers $95,633		Family Guy $214,750 American Dad $136,388
10 P.M. (ET)	Brothers & Sisters $140,445	Cold Case $99,595

	ABC	CBS	NBC	FOX	CW
8 P.M. (ET)	Dancing With the Stars $178,687 The Bachelor $139,500	How I Met Your Mother $145,106 Accidentally on Purpose $107,817	Heroes $108,675	House $183,298	One Tree Hill $55,636
9 P.M. (ET)		Two and a Half Men $226,635 Big Bang Theory $191,900	Trauma $75,928	Lie to Me $128,105	Gossip Girl $59,316
10 P.M. (ET)	Castle $92,700	CSI: Miami $140,065	Jay Leno $53,640

	ABC	CBS	NBC	FOX	CW
8 P.M. (ET)	Shark Tank $67,960 V $110,450	NCIS $133,304	The Biggest Loser $128,295	So You Think You Can Dance $132,558 Past Life $83,628	90210 $53,605
9 P.M. (ET)	Dancing With the Stars $172,570 Scrubs $70,063 Better off Ted $72,100	NCIS: Los Angeles $106,508			Melrose Place $49,019
10 P.M. (ET)	The Forgotten $97,527	The Good Wife $126,882	Jay Leno $65,678

	ABC	CBS	NBC	FOX	CW
8 P.M. (ET)	Hank $91,167 The Middle $97,812	Old Christine $80,106 Gary Unmarried $79,986	Mercy $91,172 Parenthood $99,417	So You Think You Can Dance $105,421	America's Next Top Model $93,343
9 P.M. (ET)	Modern Family $130,388 Cougar Town $103,314	Criminal Minds $116,553	Law & Order: SVU $101,632	Glee $127,350 Human Target $145,536	Melrose Place (repeat) $31,070
10 P.M. (ET)	Eastwick $110,558	CSI: New York $127,941	Jay Leno $62,012

	ABC	CBS	NBC	FOX	CW
8 P.M. (ET)	Flash Forward $175,724	Survivor: Samoa $152,246	SNL $122,000 Community $120,000 Parks and Recreation $119,990	Bones $107,942	Vampire Diaries $38,966
9 P.M. (ET)	Grey's Anatomy $240,462	CSI $198,647	The Office $191,236 30 Rock $159,674	Fringe $120,062	Supernatural $32,928
10 P.M. (ET)	Private Practice $175,450	The Mentalist $140,940	Jay Leno $57,295

	ABC	CBS	NBC	FOX	CW
8 P.M. (ET)	Supernanny $52,050	Ghost Whisperer $78,047	Law & Order $59,953	Brothers $54,157 'Til Death $57,413	Smallville $33,090
9 P.M. (ET)	Ugly Betty $65,055	Medium $71,541	Dateline $55,270	Dollhouse $56,370	America's Top Model (repeats) $17,961
10 P.M. (ET)	20/20 $62,410	Numb3rs $85,007	Jay Leno $48,803

	ABC	CBS	NBC	FOX	CW
8 P.M. (ET)	Saturday Night College Football $140,080	Repeats $22,040	Dateline $23,962	Cops 1 $45,505 Cops 2 $46,120
9 P.M. (ET)		Repeats $32,529	Trauma (repeat) $20,705	America's Most Wanted $44,729
10 P.M. (ET)		48 Hours Mystery $38,047	Law & Order: SVU (repeats) $29,004

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- NBC's "Sunday Night Football" continues its reign as the most-expensive fall program for advertisers, with a 30-second ad commanding an average of $339,700, according to an Advertising Age survey of media buying firms. The NBC Sports broadcast has commanded the most expensive advertising time for two consecutive years, reflecting the value of live programming that reaches big audiences who are less likely to skip past commercials with a digital video recorder.

That's not to say that scripted fare doesn't bring in big bucks. Of the 10 most-expensive shows on prime-time broadcast TV, the back nine are all scripted (though two are animated). A 30-second spot on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" costs an average of $240,462, while a 30-second ad on ABC's "Desperate Housewives" costs an average of $228,851.

Ad Age calculated ad prices for each show by using the upfront prices agreed to by as many as seven different media-buying agencies and other sources. According to our survey, TV prices seem to be on the decline. In the 2008-2009 season, NBC's "Sunday Night Football" commanded an average of $434,792 for a 30-second commercial, compared with this season's average of $339,700. ABC's "Grey's" brought in an average of $326,685, compared with this season's $240,462.

The other programs commanding top ad prices are CBS's "Two and a Half Men," in which a 30-second ad costs an average of $226,635 (vs. last year's $276,433); Fox's animated "Family Guy," in which a 30-second ad costs an average of $214,750 (vs. 2008's $231,306); Fox's animated "The Simpsons," which commands an average of $201,920 (vs. last year's $250,000); CBS's "CSI," which got an average of $198,647 (vs. $262,600 in '08); CBS's "The Big Bang Theory," during which a 30-second ad costs an average of $191,900, an improvement over last year's $135,357, thanks to a better time slot); and NBC's "The Office," which commands an average of $191,236 (vs. last year's $213,164) for a 30-second commercial, according to Ad Age's survey.

Some of TV's most-expensive programs won't make their debuts until 2010. According to the Ad Age survey, Fox's "American Idol" is fetching between $360,000 and $490,000 for a 30-second ad. Prices in the popular program often hinge on whether or not the ads run in those shows closer to the time when judges crown a winner.

Sunday night, filled with NBC's football and Fox's animation block, continues to be the costliest night of the TV season. CBS, bolstered by the success of its Monday-night comedies, sophomore drama "The Mentalist" and debuts of "NCIS: LA" and "The Good Wife," has usurped ABC as the costliest network on which to advertise. Meanwhile, ABC's "Flash Forward" is the most-expensive new program of the season, commanding an average of $175,724 for a 30-second ad. Fox's much hyped "Glee" comes in as the fourth most-expensive new show of the fall, at $127,350, as ABC's "Flash Forward," Fox's "The Cleveland Show" and ABC's "Modern Family" take the top three slots.

One of the cheapest new shows of the year is NBC's much-hyped "Jay Leno" program, where a 30-second spot can be had for an average cost between $48,803 and $65,678, depending on the night of the week.

The figures should be taken as directional indicators, not gospel. The estimates are based on what advertisers paid for ad time during the recent upfront market, during which marketers commit to pay for predetermined amounts of ad inventory months or weeks in advance in exchange for locking down price guarantees.

Already, the market has noticed that prices for scatter inventory, or ad time purchased much closer to air, is up "mid-to-high single" percentages above upfront prices, according to Wells Fargo Securities. That's good news for TV broadcasters, but not such good news for marketers readying holiday-season ads. Broadcasters held back, on average, 10% to 15% of time normally sold in the upfront, betting that they'd command higher scatter prices.

And it's worth noting that most TV advertising is typically purchased as part of larger negotiations, not on a one-off basis. Prices often depend on the advertiser's relationship with the network, the volume of inventory being purchased and the presence of nontraditional advertising, such as product placements.

The drops should come as little surprise to those who took part in one of the most prolonged upfront sessions in recent memory. With the economy weighing on marketers' ability to spend, advertisers waited until late August -- and until they felt TV prices had been negotiated down somewhat -- before committing to the fall schedule. Indeed, networks dithered over whether of not to hold back scatter until the last possible minute.