• Bloomberg via Charlotte.com, Monday, January 21, 2008 11:01 AM

Fox, faced with brisk demand for ad time in the Super Bowl, may sell its last 30-second spot as soon as this week, insiders say. The net is hoping to get about $3 million for the sole remaining slot in the Big Game. In the past, time could usually be purchased the week of the game, but this demand surge underscores the Super Bowl's draw as the world's biggest ad showcase. Fox had already sold 90% of its 63 slots before the writers' strike.

"The Super Bowl remains one of the last bastions of national reach," says John Rash, senior vice president at Campbell Mithun. "It can bring immediate national attention." The record $2.5 million average asking price for Super Bowl commercials was set in 2006, says Jon Swallen, a senior vice president at TNS Media Intelligence, with lat year's average price being $2.39 million. The higher tag this year mirrors a trend toward sports programming that also saw premiums for time in college football's Bowl Championship Series and Major League Baseball's World Series.

"Advertisers have been concerned about the growing rate of people skipping and avoiding ads," says Swallen, adding that more than half the people who record TV shows zip past the commercials while the Super Bowl is "virtually skip-proof."

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