TV Stations in New Hampshire, Iowa Cash In on Early-Vote Status
Last Updated: December 13, 2007 00:21 EST
By Christopher Stern
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aNgr.DaPA95I&refer=us


Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Iowans who tuned in to WHO-TV on Dec. 11 got an extra dose of presidential politics with their 6 o'clock news. The half-hour program contained eight spots for candidates, two for Barack Obama, and one each for Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo and Mike Huckabee. A union weighed in with a plug for Clinton.
That was mild compared with the political static 1,300 miles east, in New Hampshire, where the evening broadcast on Manchester's WMUR featured 13 political messages -- more than half of all ads during the 30-minute program -- including three for Clinton and Romney, and two apiece for Obama and John McCain.
The two stations are reaping a cash bonanza from their states' earliest-to-vote status. WMUR, owned by Hearst-Argyle Television Inc., received more than $900,000 in political advertising last week alone, according to the New York-based Television Bureau of Advertising. In Iowa last week, campaigns spent $1.5 million on local broadcasters, boosting their revenue by an average of 37 percent, according to the TVB. These two states have benefited most, even after predictions that most of the focus would be on big states like California and New York, which moved their primaries up to Feb. 5.
``The change in schedules has actually made Iowa and New Hampshire more important,'' said Kathleen Keefe, vice president for sales at New York-based Hearst-Argyle, which owns stations in New Hampshire, Iowa and most major states with a primary.
Record Cash
So far this year, campaigns have spent $17 million in Iowa and $7.6 million in New Hampshire on television ads, according to the TVB, which doesn't have data for individual outlets. In an election season characterized by record amounts of cash and the accelerated primary calendar, the candidates are providing an unprecedented windfall for local TV stations. The biggest beneficiaries have been the broadcasters in Iowa and New Hampshire, which hold their contests on Jan. 3 and Jan. 8, respectively.
One reason for the increased flow of cash is that most of the top-tier candidates -- Democrats Clinton and Obama, and Republicans Romney and Rudy Giuliani -- have spurned public money for their campaigns.
If a candidate relies on partial public financing -- as most did in the past -- the spending limit in Iowa would be a little over $1.5 million; Obama, 46, and Clinton, 60, may end up spending 10 times that much and Romney won't be far behind. In New Hampshire, the spending ceiling for candidates taking federal money is a little less than $1 million, which most of the front-runners also will well exceed.
Messages
With the Iowa contest three weeks away, the candidates are ramping up their saturation of the airwaves. In one ad broadcast during the Dec. 11 evening news, Obama, an Illinois senator, highlighted a speech he gave in Des Moines on Nov. 10. In another, he touted his education plan. Clinton, a New York senator, focused her message on her strength and experience.
In the New Hampshire ads, Romney, 60, highlighted his managerial acumen with a montage of footage from his experience as a businessman, former Massachusetts governor and as organizer of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Former New York Mayor Giuliani's ad invoked President Ronald Reagan's handling of the 1980 Iran hostage crisis as an inspiration for his own determination to face down Islamic extremists.
Red Sox Plug
Arizona Republican Senator McCain's ad featured a plug from Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, and mentions McCain's years in captivity as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and his battles against pork-barrel spending in Congress.
Local news shows are the most popular slots for political advertising because the viewers they attract are more likely to vote.
Obama's presidential campaign began advertising in Iowa in September and went on the air with spots in New Hampshire a month ago, according to spokesman Bill Burton. The campaign isn't running ads yet in the 22 states with Feb. 5 primaries.
``We've got offices in a bunch of them, but we are not on the air,'' Burton said. Obama has bought more ad time in Iowa than any other candidate, according to data provided by New York-based Nielsen Co. From Jan. 1 through Nov. 18, Obama's campaign purchased 8,494 spots in Iowa, compared with 6,260 for Clinton, according to the Nielsen data.
The influx of spending has a downside for local advertisers. Television stations are required by law to make a ``reasonable'' effort to provide time to candidates, elbowing local retailers off the air during the political season.
Crowded Out
Hearst-Argyle's Keefe said advertisers were warned they may be crowded out around Christmas. WMUR set aside half of its advertising slots on its 6 o'clock news just for political candidates, she said.
Local and national car dealers are feeling the brunt, said Raymond Cole, president of Citadel Communications Inc., which owns WOI-TV in Des Moines.
Instead of getting spots on the morning and evening news shows, car dealers are relegated to daytime programs such as ``Judge Judy.''
``They are being pushed out by political advertisers,'' Cole said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Stern in Washington at Cstern3@bloomberg.net .