In TV Campaign, $300 million won't go far

Even in these tough economic times, $300 million doesn't go as far as it used to. So if that's really the figure the Obama campaign fundraising machine generates, how should it best use it? Based on history, most campaign cash is earmarked for local TV, concentrated around news and Oprah Winfrey's talkshow. As Election Day nears, ads spill further outward into daytime court and shows like "Judge Judy" and "Dr. Phil" -- reaching people you don't like to think about walking around shopping malls, much less voting. Inasmuch as this election will focus on undecided voters in swing states, Marty Kaplan -- the Norman Lear Center chair of entertainment, media & society at USC's Annenberg School for Communication -- anticipates that the campaigns will "try to target their spending on particular demographics," which requires being savvy about the audience for selected programs and not just mere geography. These swing voters are also prone to watch more network primetime than committed partisans, so Kaplan concludes that purchasing local time within network entertainment fare would be an efficient way to reach them. Small wonder that Obama's campaign will place spots throughout Olympic coverage on NBC and its cable networks in August.