Combined, John McCain and Barack Obama have bought more than $11 million in commercial time during the Olympic broadcasts on NBC. But they've also managed to get the slots for an insane deal: $44,000 per spot for McCain and $36,000 for Obama (who purchased less ad time overall). Sound cheap? It should. That's because their per-ad payments are well under the market price for these coveted slots, which have a going rate of $700,000-plus for the Snickers and Coca-Colas out there. Yes, that's about a 17X multiple they cut out. So how are they getting away with it?
Actually, we're not sure.
Under FCC regulations, candidates are allowed to purchase discounted air-time for their campaign within 60days of their election; political candidates get to demand the lowest "unit" pricing for a TV spot from a broadcast network.
Now, unless we are counting wrong, 60 days from now doesn't fall in November when that election thing-y happens, which means NBC cut deals for both campaigns when it wasn't required to. Handing out political favors, are we?
Or maybe NBC just wanted to make sure America saw that delightful "Obama The Celebrity" ad a few more times.
Pirates Come Back for Second Round of Whoop-Ass (21)
· weezy says: “Gays and blacks like Obama, that’s pretty much it. Military LOVES Rush, and... »
· Rhonda says: They don’t always respect command, ever heard of the F U salute, soldiers hated... »
· bam-a-lam says: @Rhonda: The military always respects the President, no matter who he/she is. The... »
Bald A-Hole Joe the “Plumber” Now Stealing from Ignorant Poor People (39)
· weezy says: “Obama said, well I’m going to tax your earnings and give it to losers who... »
· Rhonda says: Bam, No one picked “Joe the Plumber” he asked Obama a guestion, Obama blew... »
· bam-a-lam says: “Joe the Plumber” really is a pretty bad spokesman. He’s not a... »
Obama Puppy Now Fielding Your Questions (67)
· whitney says: I didn’t have enough patience to read all of the pages of comments. PETA is... »
The Bigoted, Illiterate Tea Party Goons Gallery (106)
· weezy says: i hope all of those people protesting make 250K and above and will not take any stimulus... »
Despite Glenn Beck’s Support, Texas Will Never Secede (38)
· weezy says: @bam-a-lam: #18 brilliant post!!! #26 getreal: i agree. i think we should all get... »
GretaWire Wire (14)
· Rhonda says: Obama continues on his America Sucks 09 apology tour. Chavez and Obama looked pretty... »
Maybe they were just desperate to sell ads?
The [Reasonable Access] law requires that FCC (Federal Communications Commission) licensed radio and TV stations must run the ads of Federal Candidates in the day slots, or blocks of time, that the federal candidate specifies.
Lowest unit charge and equal opportunities requirements apply to candidates for all public offices (federal and nonfederal).
broadcasters have a love/hate relationship with campaigns. on one hand…the fill up their stopsets. on the other…it's lowest-unit rate, one of the rarely talked-about scams politicians have pulled over on America.
Shhhh…You don't really expect our smiley media friends to lay all their sneaky deal cards on the table now, do you????? Jus wait til they've divvied up the web and created some net version of of teevee C-SPIN circle jerk where you just get to post one message once every 30 days…Corporate freedom! Ah, I love its faint smell of cordite in the morning…
McCain needs to seriously get his teef whitened.. They are disgusting with his leather face!