• by Wayne Friedman , September 27, 2006

ABC has inked $3.6 million worth of deals with 36 advertisers for its new abc.com streaming video that promotes its prime-time lineup. Media buying and selling executives equate the figure as about double the CPM viewer prices of traditional TV.

Each advertiser paid $100,000 for three months of commercial Web messages, per media buyers, that will be seen on "Lost," "Desperate Housewives," "Grey's Anatomy," "Six Degrees," "Ugly Betty" and "The Knights of Prosperity"--shows from Touchstone Television, ABC's sister company, as well as Warner Bros. Television's "The Nine." ABC would not confirm pricing.

This pricing equation isn't only for ABC--other broadcast and cable networks are getting similar numbers on a CPM basis, according to media executives.

Internet pricing for streaming ads on prime-time shows equates to $25 per thousand households (CPM), say a number of media selling execs. That's double the traditional network TV pricing of around $12 CPM on households. But given the smaller audiences on the Internet, total out-of-pocket deals will still be a fraction of what they are on traditional TV.

Where an advertiser might pay $100,000 for a single 30-second spot on a low-rated show on traditional TV, that rate will get a marketer multiple episodes of multiple shows on the Internet. In the case of ABC, that rate delivers about three months of episodes for seven shows.

ABC released the names of 21 advertisers that have bought into abc.com's streaming video efforts, which started Sept. 22 and run through year's-end. Those advertisers include Visa, Honda, Johnson & Johnson, Red Lobster, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Sears, Remax, Nissan, Masterfoods USA, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Toyota Motor Sales, Royal Caribbean, Subway, Verizon Wireless, Verizon Online, Sprint, Walt Disney, Century 21 and JP Morgan Chase.

A couple of weeks ago, Disney-ABC Television reached an agreement with ABC affiliates. Armed with a new ABC video player, stations could sell and insert local video Internet advertising. ABC will run three 30-second spots in each hour show, and two 30-second spots in a half-hour show.

Internet video advertisers will be rotated in all ABC shows. Each advertiser will get a five-second introductory spot--for example, "this limited commercial viewing of 'Grey's Anatomy' is brought to you by Home Depot." Home Depot will then get all three 30-second spots. Different unique Internet users will see different advertisers.

Pricing is higher than on traditional TV for a number of reasons, say media sellers. For example, there is less ad clutter with Internet airings. Also, Web viewers tend to be more upscale, as well as more "engaged," than those who watch traditional TV.

In addition, there is comparably less ad inventory of prime-time TV shows airing on the Internet than on broadcast or cable TV. That also tends to drive up prices.