1 million for a Ad during Oprah’s Finale

The final “Oprah Winfrey Show” broadcast in May is expected to draw huge ratings.

It’s already drawing huge ad prices.

“Oprah” is reportedly charging $1 million for a 30-second spot in the show’s series finale next month, putting her among the most expensive finale asking prices in the past 20 years, and certainly the most expensive in daytime history.

The highest cost ever for a 30-second finale was NBC’s “Friends,” according to a report yesterday from Horizon Media, which notes that show received $2 million per ad. Fifty-two million people watched the 2004 finale.

Actually, that turned out to be a rather reasonable CPM of just over $62. A number of high-profile shows that attracted a lot fewer viewers had much higher CPMs, most notably two shows that went off the air last year.

Fox’s “24″ commanded a CPM of $177, with a 30-second spot going for $650,000. Just 7 million viewers watched the finale.

ABC’s “Lost” had a similarly steep CPM of $117, charging $900,000 for a 30-second spot and drawing 13.6 million total viewers.

Only two other shows besides “Friends” commanded a rate of more than $1 million for their finales. NBC’s “Seinfeld,” which drew 76.3 million viewers in 1998, charged $1.42 million, and CBS’s “Everybody Loves Raymond,” which drew 32.9 million viewers in 2005, charged $1.22 million.

The most-watched finale in TV history, CBS’s “M*A*S*H” in 1983, charged just $450,000 per spot and was seen by 105.9 million viewers, giving it a CPM of $8.97.

“Oprah’s” finale ad prices will be the most expensive since “Raymond” six years ago.

“Oprah’s” last episode will be May 25. She’s expected to draw a huge audience, perhaps 20 million or more.