Here's How Much It Actually Costs To Buy One Of Those Times Square Billboards

It costs between $1.1 million and $4 million a year if you want to buy one of those flashy, digital or neon billboards that light up New York's Times Square, according to the Wall Street Journal. The owners of 1 Times Square -- the tall tower in the middle of the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue (it's not actually a "square") -- make $23 million a year from the billboards that cover it.

That makes it the most expensive set of billboards in the entire world.

It's relatively cheap, too. A spot in the Super Bowl costs up to $3.8 million, and that only lasts 30 seconds.

Times Square signs don't just get eyeballs from tourist traffic in the square itself. They also make tons of incidental appearances on TV shows.

And every New Year's Eve, of course, much of that investment pays off for Toshiba, TDK, Dunkin Donuts, Anheuser-Busch, Sony and the Dow Jones news ticker, as their signage gets primetime incidental TV exposure all over the world as millions tune in for the ball drop.

Here's a graphic the Journal made to show who pays what:

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