• by Wayne Friedman , February 15, 2008

With the writers' strike out of the way, ABC gets to give its big-paying advertisers its typically high-rated Academy Award event.

Many of the advertisers that are buying this year are returning Oscars advertisers: American Express, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Mars/Masterfoods, MasterCard, and McDonald's, as well as female-oriented marketers, JCPenney, L'Oreal, and Dove Cream Oil.

Those not returning at press time: AT&T, Bank of America, Careerbuilder.com, Kodak, and Microsoft.

According to analysts, ABC is getting around $1.82 million for a 30-second spot from advertisers in the high-profile event, which will be aired on Feb. 24. The price is up 7% to 8% over a year ago.

Long known as the "Super Bowl for Women," the Oscars remain a high-rated event. Last year, ABC's "79th Annual Academy Awards" earned a 14.1 rating/33 share among adults 18-49, as well as averaging 40.2 million viewers.

This was up a bit from the 2006 event--14.1/33 versus 13.9/33 in adults 18-49--as well as in total viewers, at 40.2 million versus 38.9 million. Better still was that the broadcast has been growing its younger viewer base--rising 8% to 13.0/34 in 2007 over 2006.

In particular, it has been the Oscars' core audience--women--that has been growing. For instance, numbers are up 16% for women 18-34, 6% higher for women 18-49, and 4% higher for women 25-54. ABC notes that the Ellen DeGeneres-hosted Oscars had the best adult 18-34 rating in five years, and matched its best number for women 18-34 in six years.

Until recently, the Oscar event was threatened by possible strike and picket lines by striking writers--all of which put the broadcast in jeopardy as actors have supported the writers' strike.