TNS Media Intelligence said Monday that a 30-second commercial during next month's Super Bowl on CBS are selling for between $2.5 million and $2.8 million, based on reports from advertisers and media buyers. That's a drop from last year, when ads averaged $3 million on NBC -- a record, according to TNS. Prices remained strong last year because the majority of ads are typically bought in the spring, before the deepening of the recession, analysts said.
Pepsi, a 23 year veteran of Super Bowl commercials, will not be purchasing any ads. They'll join FedEx and GM, who dropped out last year (I hope GM dropped out!).
CBS, looking to not be outdone, claims if they calculated the average price, it would be above what NBC got last year.
The only other time Super Bowl prices dropped was from 2006 to 2007, when they went from $2.5 million to $2.4 million.