ABC lowers Oscar commercial rates

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- ABC has lowered the cost of commercial air-time for Sunday's Oscar broadcast, largely due to the recession, the Los Angeles Times said Friday.

While a 30-second spot sold for as much as $1.8 million during last year's show, spots have reportedly been going for between $1.4 million to $1.7 million for this year's Academy Awards presentation.

The telecast is expected to generate about $68 million in revenue for the network, TNS Media Intelligence, which tracks ad spending, told the Times. That figure represents a 16 percent drop from last year when commercials airing during the Oscars show earned ABC $81 million in revenue.

"It's more than just the economy," Peter Sealey, a marketing professor at the Peter Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University and a former movie industry executive, told the Times.

"The academy has a problem here. The show is way too long and the films this year are not spectacular," Sealey said. "If this year's ratings are down, it could be the tipping point and they will have to make changes."