This is the year the TV stations get rich.
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From the June 4, 2004 print edition of the St. Louis Business Journal
Political ad rates jump 58% forcing other rates higher
Laurie Sybert
Missouri's status as a battleground state in the upcoming presidential election has driven up the prices of television advertising for local candidates in the Aug. 3 primary.
Haim Mano, associate professor of marketing at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said other advertisers will feel the pinch of the political season as well.
"The prices are now rising not only for the politicians but for everything -- soft drink advertisers and car dealers -- because of the demand. This is pure economics here -- supply and demand," Mano said.
Jennifer Burton, senior vice president with Murphy Putnam Media Inc., the Alexandria, Va.-based firm working on the television media buys for Mo. Rep. Russ Carnahan and Gov. Bob Holden, said they had expected to pay an average of $130 per point for television ads this season and now are finding they will pay about $200 per point for ads prior to the primary.
A point translates to 1 percent of television viewers in a given market. Media buyers for political campaigns generally aim for about 1,000 points of exposure in television ads per week. At that level, they expect most voters will see their political ads 10 times.
With the new local prices, a one-week buy for the candidates will jump from $130,000 to $200,000. Those figures also factor in the lower rates that television stations are required to provide candidates, according to Federal Communication Commission regulations.
Allen Todd, campaign manager for Carnahan's bid for the Democratic nomination in the third congressional district, said the additional ad costs translate into higher overall campaign costs.
"It just means we have to raise more money. But it's a tough environment given that there are so many races," Todd said.
Glen Callanan, general sales manager for WB11- KPLR TV, said that the numerous television ads placed by the Bush and Kerry campaigns as well as political action committees and section 527 committees such as the Media Fund and MoveOn.org Voter Fund have pushed up local pricing for political ads.
"It's definitely become more of a seller's market," Callanan said. "Traditionally the campaigns buy during news programs. The campaigns may have to look past their standard buying plans. Kerry and Bush have been buying a lot of Cardinal baseball time.
"Bush and Kerry have been on the air here consistently since the February primary and I see no reason they're not going to run straight through."
In the 2000 presidential election, 54 percent of all the commercials in St. Louis 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. news slots were political ads, Callanan said. "If you take away 54 percent of any one thing it follows that the rest are going to cost more."
But Callanan said his station hasn't seen any local political ads yet.
"They don't tend to place their ads very far out -- maybe one or two weeks in advance," he said. He expects local ads will start in the third week of June.
Coleman Steele, media director at Veritas Advertising in St. Louis, said the average costs per point for all news programs in the local market is $225 -- which doesn't factor in the lowest unit rate provided to political candidates.
Jim Gardner, communications director for the Missouri Democratic Party, said he's seen media prices jump in other campaign years.
"Whenever the media is allocating space, they have to go from the top down -- presidential candidates over senators; senators over governors; governors over state representatives. It's happened in other races," Gardner said. "But considering the large volume of political advertising already purchased it may be a little tighter this time around."
"This situation is unique to the really competitive states and Missouri is among the top two or three of these states," said David Kimball, assistant professor of political science at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. "It's going to hurt all the local candidates because they're going to have to pay more and particularly hurt the candidates who are behind in fund raising."
lsybert@bizjournals.com |
