A decline in Oscars ratings aren’t making commercials any cheaper for the 2017 ceremony.
TheWrap has confirmed that ABC is asking for more than $2.1 million for the remaining 30-second commercials that will run during the February broadcast.
According to a study done by Kantar Media, the price of an Academy Awards ad has risen steadily over the past five years. The total ad spending for 2014 was $95 million, with an average price per ad of $1.76 million.
“The robust pricing reflects advertiser demand for live TV events that can generate strong engagement in social media coupled with the desirable demographic profile of the viewing audience,” Kantar wrote.
The news comes despite the fact that ratings for the Oscars have been slipping in recent years. This year’s ceremony grabbed 34.3 million total viewers, down 6.2 percent from last year. That means this year had the third fewest eyeballs since Nielsen began electronically tracking in 1992.
Last year, the Oscars had dropped 16 percent in overall audience, settling for 36.6 million total viewers. The 2015 film celebration received a 10.8 rating in the main demo, based on Nielsen’s fast national ratings.
Last year, Neil Patrick Harris hosted the ceremony. This year, it was Chris Rock‘s turn, and the stand-up comedian skewered Hollywood over its lack of diversity among the nominees.
Variety first reported this news.