Excluding the Olympics, commercial prices on the big
broadcast networks in primetime were flat in the third quarter, averaging
$82,396 per 30-second spot. The Olympics pushed down cable prices during the
quarter.
According to an analysis by media agency TargetCast tcm of
information from SQAD Inc.'s NetCosts data bank, prices for spots on the top
fifteen cable networks in the adults 25 to 54 demographic were down 2% to
$12,793.
Following the price drops caused by the recession,
commercial prices on broadcast have been flat or up for 10 straight quarters,
TargetCast says. In the second quarter commercials on broadcast cost $130,194
per 30 seconds, up 3% from the prior year.
In the third quarter, spots on Fox averaged $119,265, spots
on CBS averaged $82,265, ABC spots earned $73,618 and non-Olympic spots on NBC
cost $71,368.
Commercial prices were lower in the third quarter than the
second because of summer reruns and viewers being drawn to the London Games.
Gary Carr, senior VP, executive director of national
broadcast at TargetCast, says that despite a softer scatter market than last
year, overall costs were stable due to the relatively high sell-out levels in
the upfront. Many advertisers had committed more money upfront to avoid
potentially high prices in scatter.
