Electing a President: When the Stakes are this High, Local Broadcast Television Delivers - Don Seaman-TvB

At the end of the day amp8211 Election Day that is amp8211 numbers matter They matter very much There are three numbers that matter for two men in particular and thus for their beloved countryThey are65899557 511 and 332 Total votes percentage of the popular votes and the Electoral College delegatesThose were the numbers that counted the ones that ultimately determined that President Obama had successfully defended his Oval Office from his opponent former Governor Mitt RomneyAnother number was just as crucial 85 of television ad spending during the Presidential campaign went to local broadcast stationsThere are some who would have you believe that there was some strategic move to the quottargetabilityquot of cable in these waning moments of the campaign WellnoBy applying viewing metrics supplied by Rentrak MRI and Scarborough among others local broadcast has every bit of the targetability that39s assumed with local cable Moreover local broadcast television has something that cable will never be able to deliver amp8211 audiences that dwarf those of cable making it more cost effectiveIn reality the savvy political strategists identified the critical geographies ahead of time and utilized the targeting power of local broadcast television39s programming and news to deliver scalable numbers of voters in the marketplace And that would have applied to any number of demographic targets in play amp8211 Democrats Republicans Independents bluecollar whitecollar soccer moms etc Any group that might be critical in an election is targetablequot amp8211 and reachable in mass numbers amp8211 by local broadcast televisionNo media planner would ever bet the farm on local cable39s quottargetabilityquot especially when the goal is to reach as many undecided voters as possible Buying Lifetime to appeal to women in certain very specific counties is a rationalization In a cable buy you just buy the network so you39re likely to get a leftover spot in some fringe daypart which is unlikely to be seen by many undecided voters There39s little control over when the spot would run or in what program especially with inventory running short On local broadcast television the buys are program and daypart specific so a campaign would know what when and where they39re putting their spots not just quoton the network somewherequotThe ratings comparison of local broadcast television compared to niche cable is irrefutable Networkbynetwork programbyprogram with very few special exceptions usually sports cable still can39t even come close to the number of viewers delivered by broadcast often in a single spotLocal broadcast television is the workhorse that delivers targeted voters en masseThe strategic targeting was in place well before the last weeks of the election cycle The Obama campaign controlled nearly 90 of their ad placements capitalizing upon the pricing advantage afforded them by not having a primary battle to wage They took advantage of the 60day window of the lowest unit rate maximized their budget and blanketed the airwaves with more spots for fewer dollarsLeveraging the most effective media strategy is not something to be trifled with in such a highstakes game as winning the Presidency of the United States It takes careful planning a keen understanding of local markets and a strategic base of local broadcast television to deliver the highest prize in the landObama campaign strategist David Axelrod famously called local broadcast television the quotnuclear weapon of political persuasionquot He proved it by putting his money where his mouth is amp8211 committing even more dollars to the TV stations during this election than in 2008 As a result the man delivered two winning Presidential campaigns Clearly he39s onto something by putting his trust in local broadcast televisionDon Seaman joined the TVB in January 2012 as Manager of Marketing Communications where he is responsible for promoting and raising awareness of the TVB and of Local Broadcast Televisionamp8217s value propositions within the traditional and digital media industries Don can be reached at dontvborgRead all Don39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Local MattersCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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Electing a President: When the Stakes are this High, Local Broadcast Television Delivers - Don Seaman-TvB

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