NBC, ABC Seek Big Ad Prices for Biden, Trump Town Halls (EXCLUSIVE)

President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will no doubt make news when they take part in dueling town halls this evening on NBC and ABC. But the networks broadcasting their events may be looking less at headlines the two politicians will generate and more at the money they will draw.

NBC and ABC hope to take in hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue from their 8 p.m. town-hall broadcasts, pressing for an average cost of $198,000 for 30-second commercials adjacent to the events, according to two people with knowledge of negotiations between the networks and advertisers. ABC and NBC declined to make executives available for comment, and it was not immediately clear if NBC was seeking additional money for simulcasts of its event on MSNBC and CNBC, or offering a package of inventory across all three networks.