Short answers, pulled from the story.
The first official paid television advertisement aired on the 1st of July 1941 at 2:30 p.m. This event occurred on New York station WNBT before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies.
Bulova paid anywhere from $4.00 to $9.00 for this brief moment of airtime. Reports vary slightly on the exact cost, but the transaction remains a historical fact regarding the modified clock display with the Bulova logo.
TV ad spending in the United States reached an estimated $69.87 billion in 2018. Advertising revenue provides a significant portion of funding for most privately owned television networks today as companies like Nielsen Media Research measure viewership across the country.
Several advertisements were banned shortly after being televised including the Blood on the Carpet commercial for Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks in 2005 and the Snickers commercial featuring Mr. T. Ronald McDonald was retired from advertisement after 53 years in 2016 following suggestions from physicians that targeting children with fast food clowns was unethical.
By the end of 2008, 22% of UK households possessed a digital television recorder which allowed viewers to skip advertisements automatically from recorded programs. Data collected via the SkyView panel showed that once a household got a DTR they watched 17% more television overall while still watching 30% of the ads at normal speed during time-shifted viewing.