Fox: Still One Super Bowl Spot Left

As we reported last fall, Fox was either having trouble finding takers willing to shell out as much as $3 million for a Super Bowl spot, or they were waiting to see who got desperate. Now the NY Times reports Fox still has one ad spot in its hip pocket. And since it looks like the Academy Awards are going to be canceled because of the writers strike, the network is in a position to extort an exorbitant ad rate.

With 90 million expected to tune in, the Super Bowl is one of few remaining opportunities to reach pretty much all of America with one ad buy. By comparison, the Academy Awards show -- the second-biggest TV event of the year -- reaches 40 million.

Fox is averaging $2.7 million this year for 30 seconds during the Super Bowl, compared to $2.6 million last year. So with all but one of the 63 available spots sold, News Corp.'s (NWS) Fox is set to reap $170 million.