Although the 2020 presidential election is months away, broadcasters are seeing signs that the campaigns are preparing to saturate markets, spending billions of dollars on political advertising between now and November.
According to Inside Radio, Katz Media Group Chief Marketing Officer Stacey Schulman said current political advertising trends are “a lot stronger” than what she saw at this point during the 2016 and 2018 election cycles.
Political buying agencies are inquiring about rates and availability, especially for battleground states, which “suggests there will be a lot of activity,” Fox Corp. Senior VP Joe Di Scipio said. In North Carolina, viewed by the campaigns as a key battleground state, candidates are already reserving time on radio and television stations, and inventory is expected to grow tighter.
Schulman points out that the fall may be a time when political campaigns will be competing against brands for airtime. “[N]ot only are they going to have the demand for political, but a lot of consumer advertisers are likely to come back on line come fall as well, so there will be a lot of demand for inventory come the fall,” she predicted.
At Strategic Media, Inc., we are watching inventory trends closely in anticipation that airtime will begin to tighten up. “We agree that we could see some challenges late in Q3 and early in Q4; it is never too early to plan ahead,” said Pam Wolfgram, Senior Media Buyer.
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