'Sunday Night Football' Beats 'Grey's Anatomy'

NBC's "Sunday Night Football" has muscled its way past ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" to become the most expensive fall program for advertisers on network TV in the 2008-2009 season. The NBC sports program commands an average cost of $434,792 for a 30-second commercial, compared with "Grey's," which this season brings in $326,685 for the same, according to an Advertising Age survey of media-buying firms.

Last year, the two programs' positions were flipped. "Grey's" notched an average of $419,000 for a 30-second spot, while "Football" brought in an average of $358,000. The shift reflects advertisers' increasing interest in live events that bring in mass audiences watching programs as they happen, rather than hours or days later via a DVR. Already, advertisers have flocked to events such as NBC Universal's broadcast of the Olympics from Beijing. NBC's coming broadcast of the Super Bowl, meanwhile, is nearly sold out even before Thanksgiving.

Rest of the top 10
ABC's "Desperate Housewives" costs an average of $318,552, followed by CBS's "Two and a Half Men," which, at $276,443, is the most expensive comedy on network TV. Next come two dramas, CBS's "CSI" ($262,600) and Fox's "House" ($260,179), followed by two of Fox's animated offerings, "The Simpsons" ($250,000) and "Family Guy" ($231,306). The top 10 is rounded out by CBS's "Survivor" ($212,800) and NBC's "The Office" ($213,164). All prices reflect the average price paid by media buyers surveyed.

Fox's new drama "Fringe" trumps many of these prices. While a new show that can command more than $340,000 for a 30-second commercial seems shocking, the News Corp. network is running the J.J. Abrams program with fewer ads and in certain cases shorter commercial breaks. Because those commercials are expected to stand out more than those that run in regular programming, media buyers say Fox has asked for -- and received -- a premium for ad time that appears in the show.

CBS's "Worst Week," sandwiched on Monday night between powerhouse "Two and a Half Men" and reliable "CSI: Miami," is right behind "Fringe" as one of the costliest new shows of the fall season, raking in about $179,727.

Thanks to NBC's "Football," ABC's "Housewives" and Fox's animation, Sunday evening continues its reign as the costliest night of the week. The Walt Disney network also continues its tenure as the costliest broadcast network, thanks not only to "Grey's" and "Housewives" but also "Dancing With the Stars," which takes in an average of $205,000 for a 30-second ad and just misses being part of the top ranks of most-expensive fall programs.

Where's The CW?

CW’s highest-priced show is America’s Next Top Model at $103,714 - well ahead of anything else on the CW (One Tree Hill is next highest at $67,902 and Gossip Girl pulls $62,139 according to the survey). The Game on Friday nights has the lowest price of anything this fall according to the survey at $29,583 - that’s even cheaper than the 8pm Saturday block of Crimetime Saturday reruns on CBS at $32,600.

America's Next Top Mdel - $103,714
One Tree Hill - $67,902
Gossip Girl - $62,139
90210 - $58,347
Smallville - $54,323
Stylista - $48,942
Everybody Hates Chris - $44,533
Supernatural - $37,982
Privileged - $33,305
The Game - $29,583

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/10/05/sunday-night-footb...cond-ad-pricing/5697
http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=131471

Wow, Supernatural pulls less than Everybody Hates Chris!

quote:

Originally posted by Adrian01:
CBS's "Worst Week," sandwiched on Monday night between powerhouse "Two and a Half Men" and reliable "CSI: Miami," is right behind "Fringe" as one of the costliest new shows of the fall season, raking in about $179,727.

Well, that should make its death quick and painless. Nothing spells instant cancellation like an overpriced, overvalued show that is makegoods galore.

No wonder The CW's shows are only 40 minutes with 20 minutes of commericals. They are trying to make money with those low prices.

Well that seals the fate of Privileged and The Game. Low ratings and no money brought in for ads is going to kill them off.

I know people were complaining how low Smackdown's ad rates were but if I recall correctly, they were $40,000. I need a fact check on this. If this is correct, EHC/The Game didn't do better better in the ad rate department. So CW lost ratings and ad dollars.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: WlcmLAPD,

Every network took a drop in year over year ad income for Friday night except for CW. CW has increased their ad rate from last year.