As many do for the Super Bowl, I find the ads on American Idol more interesting than the show. It's among the priciest prime-time real estate around. Last year, ads cost $600,000 per 30-second spot. So it raised my eyebrows to see Apple purchasing multiple spots for the MacBook Air in tonight's broadcast. I counted two in just the last half-hour. Did Apple shell out more than $1 million for a couple of ads?

Unlikely. Fox is also partnering with Apple to feature Idol downloads on iTunes. The two companies, which also collaborate on movie downloads, could well have bartered promotions. An unfair advantage over the likes of HP and Dell? Of course. Steve Jobs's Hollywood ties are paying off on the bottom line.

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