• by Wayne Friedman , February 19, 2014

Strong advertising demand for this year’s “Academy Awards” program on ABC will top last year’s $88.3 million advertising totals.

Thirty-second commercials have been priced at $1.8 million, roughly 10% higher than last year’s average price of $1.65 million -- which could easily push totals near the $100 million mark, according to analysts.

According to Kantar Media, which offered the research, this is a “growth rate the Academy Awards has experienced only twice in the past decade. The robust pricing reflects advertiser demand for live TV events that can generate strong engagement in social media.”

Last year’s Oscars event grew 7% to $88.3 million in advertising revenue from the program in 2012, where Kantar said the average price for a 30-second commercial was $1.61 million.

While the Academy Awards continue to be the second-highest-grossing single TV program of the year -- with the Super Bowl pulling in around $250 million -- the “Grammy Awards” on CBS continues to gain ground.

Last year, Kantar Media estimates the “Grammy Awards” pulled in $67.2 million, with the average unit price at $861,000. This year’s event’s pricing soared some 16% to over $1 million, according to analysts.

But analysts also say this might not be an apples-to-apples comparison. The Oscars advertising inventory -- controlled by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences -- is less cluttered than many other special one-night TV events.

Kantar says total advertising time -- paid advertising and network TV promos -- amounted to just under 11 minutes per hour, 7 minutes and 24 second for paid commercials, and 3 minutes and 30 seconds for TV network promos.
Regular network TV primetime can total 13 to 15 minutes or more when including all non-program time -- paid national commercials, local commercials and TV promos.

The three largest Oscar advertisers of the last five years: Hyundai, $56.6 million; JC Penney, $49.4 million; and Coca-Cola, $41.5 million.