Caucus
Mix
Ads* in the Closing Days
of the 2008 Iowa Caucus Campaign
from evening newscasts on KCCI Channel
8 (CBS...a Hearst-Argyle station) "Iowa's News Leader"
*Ads listed below do not
include station and network promos.
This section made possible through the assistance
of Robert A. Ussery of Des Moines.
In the closing days of the
Iowa caucus campaign 14 groups were running campaign-related ads during
the evening newscasts on this Des Moines station -- ten campaigns (six
Democrats and four Republicans) and four interest groups. Whether
by choice or for budgetary reasons several of the campaigns largely stayed
with one final ad, while others ran a mix. The ads were mostly positive
except a Romney ad targeting Huckabee and a ClubforGrowth.net ad also targeting
Huckabee. On Caucus eve the Clinton and Obama campaigns ran special
two-minute ads. KCCI seemed to avoid running campaign ads in the
first ad breaks of their newscasts, possibly so as not to cause ad-weary
viewers to change the channel. Ads by supportive groups frequently
ran adjacent to the ads of the campaigns those groups were supporting (AFSCME
PEOPLE ad followed by the Clinton ad; Alliance for a New America and Working
4 Working Americans ads next to Edwards ads). One possible explanation
is that the media buyers are the same for the campaigns and the supportive
groups.
Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2008
"Now at 5"
Total broadcast time:
Total ads: 17 totaling 8.5
minutes. Total campaign ads: 12 totaling 6 minutes.
Groups running campaign
ads: 11. Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Huckabee, Obama, Paul, Romney, FThompson;
AFSCME PEOPLE, ClubforGrowth.net,
Working 4 Working Americans.
Also note: A report
on Huckabee's
attack ad that he decided not to air led the newscast. (Headline
"It's the ad that
will not air in Iowa.
Why Mike Huckabee says he changed his mind at the last minute.")
The story ran for about
1 min. 50 sec.
"Now at 6"
Total broadcast time:
Total ads: 16 totaling 8.5
minutes. Total campaign ads: 13 totaling 7 minutes.
Groups running campaign
ads: 12. Biden, Dodd, Edwards, Huckabee, Obama, Paul, Richardson,
Romney,
FThompson; Alliance for
a New America, ClubforGrowth.net, Working 4 Working Americans.
"Now at 10"
Total broadcast time:
Total ads: 22 (including
three 15 sec.) totaling 10 minutes 45 seconds. Total campaign ads:
14 totaling 7 minutes 30 seconds.
Groups running campaign
ads: 11. Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Huckabee, Obama, Paul, Romney,
FThompson;
AFSCME PEOPLE, ClubforGrowth.net.
Copyright © 2008
Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action |
|
