Obama Steps In To Save Big Media, Buys 30-Minute Commercials
Barack Obama's campaign has bought 30 minutes of primetime on both CBS and NBC to air a special program. Date and timeslot is the same for both buys - 8:00 p.m. ET on Oct. 29.
...While not unprecedented, the move is unusual in that presidential campaigns tend to aim TV spending at local broadcast outlets in specific battleground states. However, with so many states in play this election, a network buy could be more efficient and economical...
...Per federal equal time rules, CBS and NBC would have to offer similar rates to the McCain campaign if it sought to buy the same amount of air in primetime.
A source said the Obama campaign was also talking to Fox for a similar buy, but potential conflict with the World Series broadcast is hampering negotiations.
Here's what we don't know, and haven't been able to find in any of the coverage so far: How much does 30 minutes of primetime cost? Any help much appreciated: Sound off below, via our tip jar, or ping me directly pkafka AT alleyinsider DOT com.
UPDATE: Thanks to our readers, particularly Bill Gorman at TVbythenumbers.com. Seems like a reasonable guesstimate would be something in the $1.5 million range per network, per half-hour.
Wednesday at 8pm has a range of approximate 30 second spot rates from $114k/30 sec down to $79k/30 sec. Note that it's a pretty inexpensive period, relatively speaking.
http://tvbythenumbers.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/10-spotcost-100608.pdf
Plus, there would certainly be discounts of some level. Who knows how much.
16 (30 sec spots) x $79,000 = $1.26 million for the cheapest network
16 x $114k = $1.82 million for the most expensive.
Buying ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox would probably cost $6 million-ish, potentially much less with discounts.
Peter
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Recommending books so good, they'll keep you up past your bedtime. ;)
Wouldn't that be 60 30 second spots (60 spots x 30 seconds = 30 minutes)? He's not buying out all the ads, he's buying out ALL of the 30 minutes from my read.
At 79k, that's $4.74 million for cheapest network.
I was under the impression the political campaigns qualified for unique discounts, and a bulk buy for 30 minutes also means they don't have to produce content, so the ROI is much higher (they can just push the season of a show one week back).
And as I said above, there would certainly be discounts probably both volume based and perhaps for political purposes, the magnitude of which I cannot guess.
NEW YORK -- Barack Obama will pay NBC and CBS almost $1 million each for the campaign's half-hour ad buy in primetime Wednesday, Oct. 29, less than a week before the election.
According to papers available at CBS's headquarters in New York, the campaign agreed Monday to pay $961,000 for the entire 8-8:30 pm time period. It wasn't clear whether that was in pattern, meaning it would run across all time zones at that period.
NBC will sell Obama the half-hour time buy for $891,250 gross and $775,000 net, according to documents from NBC available at its 30 Rock headquarters.
The agreed-upon prices are not what it would cost an average advertiser for a half-hour time buy, which are extremely rare in broadcast network primetime anyway. They are the so-called "lowest unit cost" that is required under federal law.
The campaign's ad buyer GMMB of Washington, D.C., first approached CBS as well as NBC, ABC and Fox for half-hour time buys on Thursday, Oct. 30, Sunday, Nov. 2 and Monday, Nov. 3 -- the latter just one day before the election. But Sunday's "roadblock" of ads had been deemed unworkable due to NFL football on NBC during primetime and possibly late-running games on both CBS and Fox.
The Thursday and Sunday buys would have been more costly, with CBS quoting the campaign a lowest unit cost of $1.5 million for 8-8:30 pm and $1.8 million for 8:30-9 pm. On Sept. 25, a CBS internal communication suggested that the campaign wasn't interested "as of now" in the Thursday spot.
The Obama campaign declined to provide other details other than to say that it had bought time on CBS and was negotiating with other networks.
There was no comment from the McCain campaign. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news regarding the ad buys on Thursday.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3ib51a5e93dda16ab762643dc9d492a241
I vote for GoDaddy ads!
Enough is enough!! The American people are finally realizing that the popularity contest is coming to an end and we now have to pick a compitent person to Lead our Nation and be a STRONG CINC!
Enough is enough!! The American people are finally realizing that the popularity contest is coming to an end and we now have to pick a compitent person to Lead our Nation and be a STRONG CINC!
We only know others to the extent that we know ourselves. And if we really did know ourselves, than we would be a lot less critical and judgmental of others, including our leaders.
I can see Bush as a nut case only to the extent that I am able to see myself as a nut case.
I think we learned as children that it takes one to know one.
Definitely easier said than done.
Happy voting!
He's really show how he's going to spread the wealth.
IMHO, he'd make more friends in the booth, voting, with showing actions, not his mouth. How about handing, or "spreading" out that 21 million?