CBS Sells Out Super Bowl Ad Inventory

Some spots have sold for over $4 million, says Moonves

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/8/2013 1:51:56 PM

New York -- CBS Corp. president and CEO Leslie Moonves announced on Tuesday morning that CBS has sold out its ad inventory for Super Bowl XLVII.

"Yes, we are sold out," said Moonves. "But obviously, if some of those movie companies want to come in at the last minute and pay us five or six million dollars, we will find a place for you."

Moonves was speaking during CBS' Super Bowl XLVII media event in New York, where he also touted the record prices his company was able to secure.

"We have sold some of our spots for the game for over $4 million for a 30-second spot," said Moonves, who added that WCBS New York alone has sold spots for "over $1 million" for a 30-second advertisement.

CBS took longer to sell out its ad inventory than NBC and Fox did for the previous two Super Bowls, but Moonves said it was part of CBS' strategy. "You could sell out early cheaper," he said. "If you're confident that you're going to be able to sell, sometimes you'll hold the inventory."

He said they started selling ads "exactly a year ago."

"I don't think we ever doubted that we would sell out or that we would get the kind of prices that we got," said Moonves. "We've done extremely well with the NFL this year."