2015 Commercial Cost Survey: Wednesday Nights

FOX may not have many shows that can draw a decent size audience, but when it does, it gets everything it get get for it. The hot new hit, EMPIRE, not only commands the most money per commercial spot ($497k) for Wednesday nights, it is the top series in commercial pricing. only Sunday Night Football commands a larger price ($603k) for commercials.That helps make up for the low ad prices for shows like BOB's BURGERS and the lead in, ROSEWOOD. The new crime drama didn't find very much support by advertisers, getting just under $89,000 per spot.

AMERICAN IDOL, which premieres in January, had another hefty price cut. A 40 percent slash brings its ad price down to $148,000 for its final season. Just four years ago, IDOL was commanding over a half a million dollars per 30 second advertisement.

NBC has the lowest, of the Big 4, ad rate average on the night with a little over $92,000 per commercial. MYSTERIES OF LAURA had the second biggest drop of the night, cutting prices by 26% from its 2014 rate and is the lowest prices, outside of the CW.

ABC was the only network to have a net gain on the night. The four comedies all saw rated go up for 2015, with MODERN FAMILY even getting an extra $350 added to its average.  NASHVILLE was the ABC series to see a drop, but that was just a small 2% cut.

CBS did drop, but it is pulling in roughly the same rates as 2014.

ARROW is the #2 highest priced series for the CW, grabbing just over $48k per spot. SUPERNATURAL fell under $40k, now commanding just $35,600 per commercial.

Program	Net	2015 Price	2014 Price	Change
The Middle	ABC	$141,874	$133,425	6%
The Goldbergs	ABC	$137,826	$110,667	25%
Modern Family	ABC	$239,993	$239,650	0%
Black-ish	ABC	$155,990	$137,807	13%
Nashville	ABC	$95,871	$97,581	-2%
Survivor	CBS	$125,449	$134,358	-7%
Criminal Minds	CBS	$133,983	$135,789	-2%
Code Black	CBS	$129,626	-	-
Arrow	CW	$48,056	$47,040	2%
Supernatural	CW	$35,631	$40,440	-12%
Rosewood	FOX	$88,687	-	-
Empire	FOX	$497,364	-	-
American Idol (Wed)	FOX	$147,826	$243,200	-39%
The Mysteries of Laura	NBC	$70,423	$94,750	-26%
Law & Order: SVU	NBC	$85,230	$89,700	-5%
Chicago P.D.	NBC	$121,061	$122,000	4%

* - in millions