That's really not that much money for ads at all ...
"Q. How much does it cost to run a television commercial?
A. That all depends on how many viewers are estimated to be in the audience, how much commercial time is available for purchase and how many advertisers want to purchase it.
According to a Forbes Magazine article published in 2007, a 30-second spot on "American Idol" was being sold for $745,000. During the 2003-2004 season, a :30 on "Friends" went for $473,500. You can buy a :30 on "Monday Night Football" for $323,000. The smaller audience for the WB means less money for spots: "Smallville" only gets $111,700.
At the other end of the network spectrum, a 30-second spot in the 2007 Super Bowl ran about $2,600,000. (For the first Super Bowl, in 1967, you could have bought one for only $42,000 -- but that was in 1967 dollars, probably about $250,000 in 2005 dollars. Still a lot less than the current rates.) Those rates are just to run the spot once, you understand!
But daytime and late-night spots in local markets can be surprisingly inexpensive. In a medium-sized market, $5 per thousand viewers is not unusual. So -- a 30-second slot in daytime that reaches 10,000 viewers might cost you around $50 to $60. You may be able to buy "overnight" time slots -- between midnight and 5AM -- for as little as $1 each.
http://televisionadvertising.com/faq.htm
2004-2005 Prime Time 30 Second Ad Rates
(as reported by Adage.com Sept. 27, 2004)
| Program | Network | 30 Sec. Ad Cost |
| American Idol (Wed) | FOX | $658,333 |
| American Idol (Tues) | FOX | $620,000 |
| ER | NBC | $479,250 |
| Survivor | CBS | $412,833 |
| Apprentice | NBC | $409,877 |
| Joey | NBC | $392,500 |
| CSI | CBS | $374,231 |
| Will & Grace | NBC | $359,546 |
| Simpsons | FOX | $336,935 |
| Contender | NBC | $330,000 |
| Monday Night Football | ABC | $323,000 |
http://www.frankwbaker.com/thirtysecadcosts.htm
Edit: I remember watching CSI reruns on Spike last year and the Gears of War comercial must have run in every commercial break; this went on for (at least) a month. It wouldn't surprise me if Microsoft spend more than $10,000,000 on Spike ads alone ...
