Political ads likely to run up $100 million tab

POLITICAL ADS LIKELY TO RUN UP $100 MILLION TAB
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Mark Memmott]
Presidential candidates, the political parties and interest groups will spend at least twice as much as they did in 2003-04 on TV ads before nominees are chosen, campaign advertising experts say. A record $100 million or more will likely be paid to put campaign ads on the air by the time the Republican and Democratic races are effectively over, likely some time in February. And the allure of posting ads for free on YouTube and at campaign websites won't replace broadcast TV because that "old media" is better suited for reaching voters, the experts say. "We had $45 million spent on campaign ads in what was the primary race in 2003 and 2004," says Evan Tracey, chief operating officer at the Campaign Media Analysis Group of TNS Media Intelligence, which measures political advertising. "It's easy to say there will be two times that. It certainly goes to $100 million." "I would say doubling 2004 is a conservative forecast," says William Benoit, a communications professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia who studies political advertising. Their forecasts depend in part on an assumption that about half the states will have held contests by Feb. 5. It's possible that both the Democratic and Republican nominees will have been determined by the end of that week. If one or both contests extend further, spending on primary ads would go up even more.
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* Presidential candidates take their positions to TV, Web
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