State Farm will run three spots during the broadcast. Other blue-chip marketers will include McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and AT&T. will include a two-minute American Express spot featuring M.Night Shyamalan, the director known for psychological thrillers such as “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs,” say people close to the company
Advertisers are paying about $1.68 million for a 30-second spot during the show, according to a person familiar with the situation. That price is up from about $1.5 million last year, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus, keeping the broadcast among the costliest buys on network TV. By comparison, 30-second spots on the Super Bowl, which draws roughly 90 million viewers, cost between $1.75 million to $2.5 million this year. ABC, which sells most of its Oscar inventory months in advance, has sold out, says Geri Wang, senior vice president of primetime sales.