Campaigns spread ad dollars wide
Via Trading Markets
Campaigns spread ad dollars wide
>EXCERPT
Part of the problem is the limited amount of spots and the short campaign window to reach voters. Campaigners therefore focus increasingly on advertisements that can reach the broadest audiences possible for the best price.
“That’s why Fox News has become an advertising repository for Republicans and MSNBC is the same for Democrats,” said Gary Pearce, a Democratic political consultant in Raleigh.
Through April, Time Warner Cable’s political ad sales were already 24 percent higher than the whole election season four years ago, said Melissa Buscher, a spokeswoman for Time Warner Cable in North Carolina.
Of course, it isn’t like politicians have suddenly discovered cable and Internet. Part of the reason for the increase is that the races themselves are heated.
The 2004 state elections featured an incumbent governor and no presidential primary. But this year brings competitive ad spending for both the gubernatorial and presidential primaries.
National cable brands and their online counterparts benefit the most because they deliver a mix of programming that appeals to the masses and political junkies alike, Buscher said.
“More than half of total viewing is cable. For political races, it just doesn’t make sense any more to focus on local news,” Buscher said.
She added that Fox News, CNN and MSNBC — in that order — are drawing the most political advertising dollars in North Carolina. The biggest spenders through those channels so far have been gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue, followed by presidential contender Obama.
