The network is able to almost name its own price as a record 30m homes across the US are expected to tune in to watch the swansong of Phoebe, Joey, Monica, Chandler, Rachel and Ross.
Before the final show is broadcast, an hour-long programme of clips from previous episodes will be shown with a 30-second spot during this programme costing nearly £700,000.
The figure is only pipped to the post by the Super Bowl, which this year is commanding around £1.24m for a 30-second spot, an increase of 7% on last year. Last year, according to Nielsen Media Research, the Super Bowl was seen in more than 43m households and watched by more than 88m Americans. Media buyers are expecting the figure to climb to around 90m this year.
The previous highest for a TV show was in 1998 during the final episode of the long-running 'Seinfeld', which cost £950,000 for a 30-second spot.
The move echoes a ploy by the network in 2002, when it was originally thought 'Friends' would end, to make as much money as possible from the show before it was supposed to finish.
NBC extended each episode in what was supposed to be the final series by two minutes with £300,000 being taken for a 30-second spot, although NBC defended the decision as artistic rather than commercial, claiming that longer episodes meant more of the programme not more ads.
NBC has sold nearly all of the spots for the final episode, which is set to air in the States on May 6 2004.
Now in its 10th series, 'Friends' began in 1994 and has made global celebrities of its stars including Matt Le Blanc, Matthew Perry and Courtney Cox Arquette. Matt Le Blanc is to star in a spin-off show with the network this autumn entitled 'Joey'. NBC president Jerry Zucker said that there could be a few surprises in store including Joey moving from New York to Los Angeles.
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