That's a lot of money for 30 seconds

Where's the costliest place to place a 30-second television commercial these days? Once again, it's on the NFL--specifically, Sunday Night Football on NBC. A :30 in this game costs an average of $339,700, according to an Advertising Age survey of media buying companies. This is the second straight year that Sunday, prime-time NFL has fetched the highest fare and reflects the premium price that advertisers will pay to reach large audiences who are engaged with the program.

Of the remaining top shows, the rest are scripted and aren't live programming. The top nine and average :30 commercial cost are:

Sunday Night Football (NBC) = $339,700

Grey's Anatomy (ABC) = $240,462

Desperate Housewives (ABC) = $228,851

Two and a Half Men (CBS) = $226,635

Family Guy (FOX) = $214,750

The Simpsons (FOX) = $201,920

CSI (CBS) = $198,647

The Big Bang Theory (CBS) = $191,900

The Office (NBC) = $191,236

In case you're wondering, American Idol doesn't show up on this list because the new season won't debut until 2010. Expectations are that Idol will get $360,000-$490,000 for a :30. (The difference in price is based upon when in the program an ad appears--later in the program, and thus closer to the judges' decision, gains the higher price.) And, of the new fall shows this year, Flash Forward is the most expensive, getting $175,724 for a :30 spot.

Sunday night remains the costliest night on television given NFL football on NBC plus FOX's animated programming.