• by Wayne Friedman , November 2, 2007

CBS is commanding one of the heftiest 30-second commercial prices ever for a regular-season, non-Holiday NFL game--$700,000 or more, according to media executives, for the upcoming New England Patriots-Indianapolis Colts game this Sunday, November 4.

Normal pricing for a NFL regular reason Sunday day game is typically in the mid-250,000-a-spot range. A CBS spokesman, who would not confirm any pricing details, would only say: "We are very mindful of the demand for a game like this. And we are pricing it accordingly."

Les Moonves, president/CEO of CBS Corp., said yesterday during the company's earnings call: "The sports advertising marketplace continues to be strong, with the NFL up double digits year-over-year. Having this week's game--plus all the games through the AFC championship--is every exciting. At this pricing we'll be seeing benefits from now until the end of January."

Moovnes notes that this "the latest point in the season that two undefeated teams have played each other in NFL history." He says NFL games on CBS are up 10% so far, with "The NFL Today" up 4%, so far.

All this comes from specific tight inventory market conditions--as well as the eye-opening ratings that the Dallas Cowboys-New England Patriots game got a few weeks ago.

That game, featuring two undefeated teams, took in a massive 29.1 million viewers--more than 9 million more viewers than CBS' "CSI," which garnered the highest viewers for a prime-time show that week.

When CBS witnessed those big ratings, the network sales group immediately added a couple of spots in the Colts-Patriots game--about four, according to executives.

Broadcast network pricing has seen sharp spikes in pricing--15% to 30% increases in the cost-per-thousand 18-49 viewers this fourth-quarter period over prices that were negotiated in this past summer's upfront advertising sales period. For cable pricing, the increases have soared to some 100% for some networks.

"It's crazy," said one veteran media agency executive. "There is no prime time available."

The only regular-season games to rival the pricing of this NFL game are typically on Thanksgiving, according to executives, where there are fewer games and a larger available TV audience.