Mad Men's Poor Advertising Track Record

It’s not always easy to practice what you preach: Mad Men hasn’t been a particular hit with advertisers, taking in just $1.98 million in advertising revenue in 2009. (A show like 24, in contrast, charged around $250,000 for one 30-second spot.) The problem is that, despite all the buzz, Mad Men doesn’t draw a very high number of viewers: Its audience of three million would have it canceled on any broadcast network. The show covers the $3 million cost of each episode largely by the $2 million to $3 million licensing fee paid to it by AMC and the price of selling it to international distributors. AMC keeps the show around, meanwhile, because it’s good for its brand—and since debuting, cable and satellite services have paid the network more money per subscriber.