TV advertising revenue in the U.S. 2019-2027
Short history of TV commercials
Today, U.S. broadcast TV could not exist without advertising. It all began on July 1, 1941, when the first ever TV commercial aired on WBNT which belonged to NBC. Bulova, a watch manufacturer, paid a whopping nine U.S. dollars to have the 10-second-long commercial viewed by the four thousand TV households in New York that day. And so, the ‘America runs on Bulova’ ad made it into the history books. In the 1950s single sponsor programming was introduced, where a brand paid for an entire program and used that as a promotional vehicle. A decade later the previous format faded in favor of commercial breaks and multiple advertisers had their commercials aired in the short slot interrupting TV programs. Nowadays, it is argued that TV programming is being replaced by advertising time and many viewers indicate a willingness to pay more for commercial-free television.
Prominent TV advertising seasons
While TV commercials are with us every day, there are certain periods when advertisers double their efforts and investments in order to gain higher exposure. These periods are extremely lucrative to the industry, as ad revenues soar at that time and millions of dollars are generated during major sporting events like Super Bowl, or award ceremonies such as the Oscars or Grammys.