ABC hit record sales for commercial time during Sunday's 87th Annual Academy Awards show, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.
The price for a 30-second commercial during the broadcast cost an average of $1.95 million, up 8 percent from last year, the publication reported.
The surge in advertising could help the alphabet network pull in more than $100 million for commercial time in the three-hour slot.
Ellen DeGeneres' famous selfie stunt from last year helped sell the 2015 broadcast. Last year, ABC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences attracted the show's largest audience in 10 years with 45 million viewers.
With Neil Patrick Harris at the helm this year, ABC finished its commercial sales earlier than usual. The Times reported that some spots sold for more than $2 million.
Andy Donchin, chief investment officer for Dentsu Aegis Network, a major advertising company, said the Oscars sold pretty quickly. "These big tent-pole television events remain very attractive to advertisers," he told the Times.
The feat was not easy as TV advertising has been slow in the wake of new advertising platforms that have entered the market and few "big," pictures in the theatre. Only "American Sniper" surpassed the $100 million mark at the box office.
Advertisers value big events that are televised because people watch the commercials and look forward to clever and cute ads. The ads are further supported by social media users. The Ellen DeGeneres selfie stunt broke a Twitter record with 3.4 million shares.
But the basic reason advertisers like the Academy Awards broadcast has not changed despite the advance of technology: advertisers want to associate glamour and fame with their products.
Advertisers include national as well as regional companies such as Torrance, Calif.-based King's Hawaiian; General Motors' Cadillac; AARP; Samsung; Coldwell Banker; J.C. Penney; McDonald's; American Express Co. and newbies Netflix and PetSmart.
