CBS to Super Bowl Advertisers: Make an Offer

CBS is selling ad time for Super Bowl XLIV for $2 million to $3 million … or best offer, media buyers tell Advertising Age. Not wanting to wind up like NBC, which boldly declared that 30-second spots would cost an average $3 million, only to see sales evaporate when the financial crisis hit, CBS is offering to work with ad buyers to create custom packages.

Pricing will depend on where in the telecast the ad runs, and whether ad buyers also grab time during pre-game shows and similar programs. The move flies in the face of the traditional method of publicly naming a price ever higher than the previous year’s, but could pay off if the economy improves, since CBS could up the price behind closed doors. (More Super Bowl XLIV stories.)