How Much Does it Cost to Run an Infomercial?

Producing an infomercial is something that many entrepreneurs consider when they’ve got a particular product that they believe would sell in this format. Entrepreneurs that are considering the idea of launching a product via an infomercial often ask us, “How much does it cost to run an infomercial?” The truth is, there are several costs involved with producing an infomercial and we’ve outlined many of them below.

Infomercial Production Costs

The first major cost in running an infomercial is production. Producing a half-hour infomercial that will run on television can range from about $1,000 per finished minute to upwards of $10,000 per finished minute.

Keep in mind that most infomercials will run with commercials, so the actual length of view time that you should prepare for a 30-minute infomercial slot on television is between 23 and 25 minutes.

When you ask, “how much does it cost to run an infomercial?” we instantly think about production costs. How many camera operators do we need? How many additional crew will be required? Production costs vary by hour based on experience and individual education. Hourly rates are as follows:

– Director – up to $250 per hour

– Camera Operator – up to $400 per hour

– Equipment – up to $100s per hour

– Narrator – up to $400 per hour

– B-Roll – usually a percentage of the total cost between 10 and 50%

– Miscellaneous Fees – very little or could be 1,000s

Additional crew member costs may also be involved. This all depends on the individual requirements for your production. Most infomercials cost somewhere between about $25,000 and $250,000 to produce.

Infomercial Television Spot Costs

The national average cost for a 30 minute spot on television that can showcase an infomercial varies greatly based on when the spot is shown. A graveyard time infomercial will certainly be more affordable than one during prime time, but who’s going to see it?

The average cost of a primetime spot is about $110K or a total cost per minute of $25.06. That’s for a national network of primetime that is rarely available in an individual 30 minute block but rather for a full season of 30 minutes per week, for 12 weeks or more. The rate is much higher for individual blocks.

The Rate Depends on Multiple Factors

However, when you ask, “how much does it cost to run an infomercial?” We tend to look more at the cost to purchase slots specifically allocated to informercials. Infomercial spots are typically available for purchase through local television stations and allow for the one-off purchase or the smaller block purchase rather than the full season. There are over 200 different television markets that sell these blocks, allowing the infomercial owner to dictate the region that they intend to sell in.

An infomercial spot may run just $50,000 versus over $110 for prime time. Additionally, an infomercial can be ran for 6-8 weeks for about $150K versus the same ad running on primetime for upwards of $30M.

So you see, when you ask, “how much does it cost to run an infomercial?” the rate is highly dependent upon where you run the infomercial, how it is produced, and how long you run it.

Want more information on producing an infomercial? Give Beverly Boy Productions a call!