Olympics Rings, Politicians'Slings, Automotive Bling

摘要

Even the glass-quarter-full crowd would have to concede: 2012 represents a pretty darn good time to be in the local television business. The three biggest factors in how the year plays out for stations are, of course, political advertising, more political advertising, and then even more political advertising. It's all you can eat, followed by dessert and a rare digestif-with the pols picking up the tab.Pol Position The most recent figure from Kantar Media's Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG), the reigning expert on forecasting political advertising expenditures, sees $2.5 billion to $3.2 billion in political in spot TV this year. And if we've learned anything from political spending forecasts that come a year or so in advance of Election Day, it's that they're often too modest. Even the low end of CMAG's range would represent record candidate cash for stations, thanks in large part to the Citizens United ruling opening the taps on unprecedented spending, and the win-at-all-costs wars between the political parties.Such largesse ushers in its own problem, albeit a high-class one: The challenge of keeping regular advertisers-the local car dealer, the regional restaurant chain-happy when political spots hog inventory. TVB president Steve Lanzano was in Detroit in early December, speaking with the auto giants about, among other things, how dealers can avoid getting squeezed out next October, such as buying spots in non-battleground states, and securing inventory early.