CBS Bowling For Dollars

http://www.nypost.com:80/01192001/entertainment/21661.htm

By DON KAPLAN

DESPITE reports that ad sales for this year’s Super Bowl were going soft, CBS is getting more than $2.3 million per 30-second commercial spot – a new record – sources close to the company say.

Only one commercial spot out of dozens that air during the game remains unsold, knowledgable advertising sources say.

That means that Jan. 28, when Super Bowl XXXV airs followed by the debut of the highly anticipated “Survivor: Australian Outback,” may be the most profitable night in the history of TV.

CBS will rake in more than $200 million in advertising revenues from the football game and its pre and post-game programming, sources say.

“The network’s target was $150 million for the day of the Super Bowl,” the source said. “That includes pre-game and post-game football programming.”

CBS’s 16 owned and operated stations are expected to score an additional $50 million.

The figures do not include the revenue that CBS will take in from the debut of the “Survivor” sequel to last summer’s smash.

For “Survivor,” ads were sold to only nine “sustaining” sponsors at about $12 million each. The money buys time that will run across all 14 episodes.