I was watching The Office (American version) on NBC tonight and they featured an especially prominent little spot for a paper shredder from Staples, which was featured in the show as part of a joke and then followed up with multiple commercials for it.
It got me to wondering how much something like that cost Staples, and then on to how much generally a 30-second spot on a highly-rated primetime show costs, and what the total revenue of these shows is. Of course I know the answer is that it varies dramatically, but I’m just curious if anyone can furnish some real numbers. Do networks share that information? It seems like it must be at least semi-public, since any company with the dough to advertise on primetime TV should be able to get quotes for what a spot will cost (also - am I correct that spots during different points in the program are valued more highly, e.g. the ones at the very end before the credits are probably cheaper?)
An average half-hour sitcom will fetch about $400,000 per 30-second commercial. The exact rate is determined by the rating for the show, that is, how many people are watching in the most desired demographic category, usually 25 to 49-year-olds.
The networks sometimes leave a bed or two of 30-seconds for local stations to insert spots they themselves have sold. That’s how the locals get their money…in addition to a negotiated sum from the network. In a 30-minute program, the locals usually make their money during station breaks.
The vast majority of network programs make their greatest amount of money in reruns and syndication. First run stuff is not usually a big profit item after costs of production, production personnel, talent, etc., so they depend on making the big bucks by selling the show to stations who run the hell out of it for a year or more.
Seinfeld is probably the biggest moneymaker thus far in syndication. The program was sold to Sony for something like close to a billion dollars several years ago. Jerry Seinfeld received $200 million personally from that. In his case, he was one of the creators and producers in addition to being talent.