CBS' Super Bowl XLVII Ad Inventory 80% Sold At Estimated $3.8M Per 30-Second Spot

CBS President & CEO Les Moonves during the company’s Q2 earnings call Thursday said the broadcast net had already sold "80 percent of advertising" for Super Bowl XLVII, according to Anthony Crupi of ADWEEK. Moonves added the sales pace puts CBS "well ahead of where we were three years ago,” the last time CBS aired the Super Bowl. Crupi notes CBS two months ago had "wrapped up approximately half of its in-game deals." Moonves "did not speak to the sort of rates CBS was securing in advance of the big game," but media buyers have speculated the cost of a 30-second ad to be $3.8M. That would be a 9% increase from NBC’s going rate of $3.5M per spot in the "most recent installment of the NFL title game." The ad sales come despite the fact GM "remains on the sidelines" for next year's game. The auto manufacturer bought 180 seconds of ad time during Super Bowl XLVI (ADWEEK.com, 8/2).