Big move from Obama, as he is purchasing 1/2 hour of primetime on CBS, and negotiating with other stations as well.
CROSSPOSTED AT STRATEGY08.
DIGG.
Story:
Barack Obama has purchased a half-hour of airtime on CBS, sources confirm.
The Obama campaign will air a half-hour primetime special on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 8 p.m.
Sources say the Obama camp is also in talks with NBC and Fox. It’s not yet clear if an ad buy is locked on any other network, however, or if the special's duration or time period is the same.
A CBS spokesperson declined comment. The buy will push comedy "The New Adventures of Old Christine" to 8:30 p.m. and pre-empt "Gary Unmarried."
The direct purchase of such a large block of time is considered unusual in modern presidential politics, though not without precedent -- Ross Perot did a similar purchase in 1992.
This year has seen the first time in many years that presidential campaigns have bought national broadcast TV advertisements. In the past 12 years, much of the billions of dollars in political advertising spent has gone to local TV stations in battleground states. While some money has gone to national cable channels, the thinking has always been that it would be more prudent to target battleground states' voters instead of addressing the entire nation, including states that reliably vote for one party or another.
Whoa. I think we can assume from this move that Obama had a HUGE September fundraising. Boy, I can't wait for the numbers to be reported. I'd guess this will be a huge political story, in addition to the stunning drop from the DOW. How long will McCain be able to bring up the Ayers nonsense and not get punished by the voters? As to the Obama prime-time special, I'd like to see an in-depth discussion on the economy. That is issue one, and Obama should continue to hammer on it.
Update: Confirmed for NBC as well.