How much does a TV comercial cost?

Question

I keep hearing that a tv comercial is really not as expensize as most people would think.... I'm kind of just looking for a 10-20 second ad that is already to air..... so now what and how much?

Answer 1

Your actually asking two different questions. How much is it to make a commercial and how much is it to air a commercial

Question # 1: How much is it to make a commercial?

This is a tough question with more than one answer. You could approach one of your local television stations about making a commercial for you, you could contact an advertising agency, or you could contact an video production house. The price will probably escalate with each option I previously mentioned. I would start by calling the sales department at a local television station and asking for a current production "rate card". You should expect anywhere from $100-$200 per hour for production services. And remember just because it take :30 seconds to watch a commercial doesn’t mean it takes that long to make! You should expect to pay between 4-6 hours of production for a decent commercial. With production you get what you pay for. The better your commercial "looks" the more effective it will be.

Question # 2: How much is it to air a commercial?

This question also depends on a couple of factors. Will the commercial be running in your local market only or will it need to air nationwide? If it is just to air locally, call your local television stations and ask to speak to an account executive (sales person). They will walk you through the process. If you want the commercial to run on more than one station you will have to call each station separately and buy air time on each station. As far as price goes it varies greatly. Think of it this way, the more people watching TV at the time the commercial plays the more you will pay for the spot. (Example: Sunday morning @ 9:00am a spot might cost $25, but that same spot that evening during a primetime show might cost $1,000 or more!) The best piece of advice I can give you is to commit to spending as much money as you can upfront and ask to be put on a "rotator" that will get you the most air time for your money.

Something to consider, If you spend enough money with the TV station the may be willing to produce the commercial for you for free! Ask about any special packages they have that may include production.

Further questions = [e-mail]

Answer 2

The cost of TV ads, like newspaper ads, depends on a lot of things.
One of the prime factors is the size of the viewing audience. Small, local stations, like small, community newspapers, have a limited audience and a limited readership. They are relatively inexpensive. Large TV stations, like CBS, NBC, ABC, are also graded in cost according to the time of day when the ad is run. If you want to run an ad in primetime, when the viewership is at its highest, you will pay premium dollars. That's why some of the most expensive commercials in the world run on Superbowl Sunday -- because the number of viewers is astronomical. That's why ads for things like the Olympics are so costly - because of the HUGE size of the audience. So there is no easy answer to your question, other than suggesting that you pick up the phone and call your local TV station to ask what they would charge to run a 10-20 second commercial.

Answer 3

A local ad, which would be played by a cable company on any given channel may run between $1000 and $5000 depends on your air time of corse, if you want to air during the 6 o clock news probably closer to the $5000 If you want to run it at 3 am on a tuesday probably run $1000, now you have your national spots which run in the $100,000 + range and of corse your superbowl spots at 3 million

Answer 4

10-20 seconds may cost you a 200'000 (only the time, without production) - other times of the day and on a different channel, it might be 2'000 - so it really depends!!!

Be aware, that many commercials are less than 10 seconds - check with a watch.

Answer 5

I work in media sales and it depends on several things. It depends on who does the production for your commercial, what time of day it airs, and what channel it airs on. Channels like TBS or Spike TV during prime time cost more than spots running in the morning on networks like A&E.

Answer 6

about 1000

Answer 7

a lot