television advertising

[Harold Scott <kzescott@msn.com>]

Washington Post, "A Made-for-TV Windfall" (5/2/00), is about television advertising, the greatest single force increasing the price of political campaigns. At least one dollar in five raised by all federal candidates now goes to TV advertising. That enriches media strategists who have a built-in financial incentive to place more and more ads because they earn commissions on each "buy." Another group also gains, that is the television stations themselves. The cash deluge has made the broadcast industry the biggest beneficiary of the politics business. Indeed, much as politicians gripe about the fees charged by their political consultants, the consultants complain about the high price of advertising, saying that they are at the mercy of stations that control politicians' most effective way of communicating with voters. Political commercials were the third-largest TV advertising category in 1998, trailing only automotive and retail ads.