Report: Ads in Pursuit of the Presidency

  • by January 11, 2001
A total of 38 organizations, led by the two major candidates and their respective political parties, fueled the 2000 electoral contest for the Presidency of the United States with 2,000 hours of ads from June 1 to November 7, 2000.

Given that there are 22 hours of prime time television per network each week, this is almost the equivalent of one network running ads for 91 weeks of prime time programming.

The candidates and their national parties accounted for approximately 83% of this total but were not alone in their spending. The top 5 advocacy group spenders were Citizens for Better Medicare, League of Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood, AFL-CIO and Americans for Job Security. This information was compiled and released today by Campaign Media Analysis Group (http://www.poliitcsontv.com) and CMR (http://www.cmr.com).

While we now know George Bush will take up residency in the White House in January, five media markets count themselves as winners in this cycle ... Portland, Albuquerque, Seattle, Detroit and Philadelphia received nearly 20% of all presidential advertising throughout the campaign. That is, out of the 261,000 ads aired nationally, these markets were bombarded with over 49,500 ads. Vice President Gore and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) spent an estimated $20 million on over 21,000 ads in these markets, while Governor Bush and the Republican National Committee (RNC) spent an estimated $20 million on over 19,000 ads. Independent Expenditures accounted for the remaining 9,500 ads aired.

An analysis of the Bush/RNC media strategy reveals the following: They targeted 52 of the nation's 75 media markets, which represent 26 of the nation's states. The top five states receiving the most amount of spots are as follows: Florida (22,000), Ohio (13,000), Pennsylvania (12,000), Michigan (10,500) and California (8,000). In terms of spending (based on percent of total estimated spending) the leaders are: Florida (17%), Pennsylvania (14%), California (14%), Ohio (10%) and Michigan (9%).

Gore and the DNC targeted 44 of the nation's top 75 media markets, which encompass 24 states. The top five states receiving the highest volume of ads were: Pennsylvania (14,000), Ohio (13,000), Michigan (12,000), Florida (12,000) and Wisconsin (8,500). The top five states receiving the most spending (based on percent of total estimated spending) are as follows: Pennsylvania (20%), Ohio (13%), Michigan (13%), Florida (12%) and Washington (7%).

Whereas Bush and Gore spent $1.9 million and $1.4 million respectively to garner just 1% of the popular vote, Ralph Nader was able to spend just $500,000 per 1% of the popular vote. As of November 7, Nader had aired nearly 800 ads in 12 states -- he spent a mere $1.6 million and had a tremendous impact.

Pat Buchanan, on the other hand, never did manage to get his presidential campaign off the ground, despite receiving $12 million in federal funds. Targeting 64 media markets in 35 diff

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