OSCAR SHOW STILL WINS BIG ADVERTISING BUCKS

Despite the fact that the ratings for the Academy Awards show have gone down in the last few years, the cost of commercial time on the telecast has gone up.

Tonight’s show on ABC is costing national advertisers $10,000 per second. The Academy Awards has never commanded the prices of a Super Bowl telecast ($18,300 per second or $550,000 for a 30-second spot at this year’s), but the attraction of the show is such that there are always more interested buyers than air time to sell, a network spokesman said Friday.

The cost of national advertising, which includes all 215 ABC affiliates, has jumped from nearly $275,000 last year to $300,000 for a 30-second plug, another spokesman said.

Between tonight’s Oscar presentations and loving acceptance speeches, viewers tuning in to the show will be bombarded with images of Coke, Revlon long-lasting mascara, J.C. Penney glistening diamonds, Kodak cameras, Buicks, General Electric washing machines and light bulbs.

Taking advantage of what they hope will be a captive audience, commercials from 11 national advertisers will be shown repeatedly throughout the telecast, interrupting it in 2-minute blocks about four times an hour. That’s 24 minutes’ worth of network advertising.

General Motors, between its corporate high-tech commercials and its Buick car ads, bought six minutes, the most national time. That’s $3.6 million. The Coca-Cola Co. is spending $1.8 million on commercials for Coke, Diet Coke and Sprite. So is J.C. Penney for its family apparel, jewelry and women’s shoes spots. Revlon, whose banner has opened the show in recent years, also bought three minutes for its Special Eyes mascara and Flex hair products.

Viewers will see 2-minute commercials on Kodak VR film and a new VR 35-millimeter camera, 3 minutes on General Electric washing machines and light bulbs, 2 1/2 minutes on AT&T; Long Distance and 30 seconds each on Bristol Myers, Sara Lee and Traveler’s Insurance.

The price of local commercial spots rose 10% this year, attracting 15 advertisers who each paid $60,000 for a 30-second spot.