Priciest shows for advertisers on broadcast TV in the U.S. 2021

Sunday Night Football (NBC) and Thursday Night Football (FOX) were the most expensive shows for broadcast TV advertising during the 2020/21 season in the United States. Data showed that 30-second spots during these programs were priced at 783.7 thousand and 624.6 thousand U.S. dollars, respectively.

TV advertising trends in the U.S.

Television remains one of the most popular and effective advertising media in the United States. Despite the ongoing digitalization of the ad industry, marketers still embrace the power of (linear) television for promotion, as live sporting events and awards ceremonies can attract millions of viewers. In 2021, TV ad spend in the U.S. amounted to over 67 billion U.S. dollars, and even though investments are set to plateau in the following years, advertisers still dig deep into their pockets when it comes to certain programs and airtimes. This willingness to spend is perhaps best exemplified by Procter & Gamble, the leading advertising spender on U.S. network television that devoted over 900 million U.S. dollars towards TV ads in 2020.

Super Bowl and super ad prices

While TV viewership of the Super Bowl has declined since 2015, the event still draws an impressive number of football fans to their screens each year. Whether audiences tune in for the match itself or the extravagant half-time shows, the annual broadcast promises nationwide exposure to companies that have secured one of the desired and highly contested advertising slots. The price for a TV commercial during the Super Bowl peaked at an average 2.15 million U.S. dollars per 30-second spot in 2020, with Anheuser-Busch, PepsiCo, and other top Super Bowl advertisers willing to invest even larger sums that year.

Leading TV shows on broadcast TV in the United States during the 2020/21 TV season, by cost of a 30-second spot (in U.S. dollars)

Characteristic	Cost in U.S. dollars
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Release date

November 2020

More information

Region

United States

Survey time period

2020/21 TV season

Special properties

surveyed among media buying agencies

Supplementary notes

The source provides the following information about the methodology: "[The] survey is compiled using data from as many as six agencies. The resulting prices should be viewed as directional indicators and are not the actual price that every advertiser pays for a 30-second spot. The numbers are based on a range of agency estimates that can vary depending on the amount of inventory purchased from a network, the inclusion of any nontraditional advertising such as product placements, and the relationship an advertiser and media-buying agency has with a network. Most TV advertising is typically purchased as part of larger negotiations, not on a one-off basis. These estimates also reflect the prices advertisers and networks agreed on in this year's upfront marketplace. Prices have likely changed for those wishing to buy a spot closer to the air date in the so-called "scatter" market."

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