Amid the worldwide coronavirus pandemic and a particularly charged election year, the presidential campaigns face an entry into uncharted territory. The need to put in-person campaigning on hold due to the pandemic has further complicated this election year, leading to a shift in priorities. It will change how former Vice President Joe Biden makes the case for his vice presidential pick, Sen. Kamala Harris.
In order to gain trust and to influence voters, presidential campaigns have heavily invested in ads to run on local broadcast television. This medium has maintained trust and influence throughout this year’s turbulence, and campaign strategists recognize this stability as what they need to reach voters. With local broadcast television news viewership booming across all demographic groups, candidates have been given an opportunity to target voters they may not be able to reach otherwise, making ads placed on local TV valuable as traditional campaigning remains on hold.
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While reaching the right voters is important, trust may be even more significant in the upcoming election. In a recent Dynata study, 83% of respondents said that local broadcast TV news was their most trusted media source; trust in government sites was 76%, cable news was 71%, and social media was at the very bottom of the list at 45%. This trust is especially valuable right now, given the proliferation of disinformation coupled with a lack of trust in many digital advertising platforms. The recent Facebook boycott by multiple major advertisers is just one example. While other digital platforms struggle with political advertising rules, media strategists need reliable media outlets to ensure success heading into November.
As polls come in and the temperature rises for hotly contested campaigns, targeting voters at scale in key swing districts or states is essential. This is especially true in Texas, where the gap is narrowing between President Trump and Biden. So far, both candidates have placed ad buys in small but key markets that will most likely play the biggest role in the Lone Star state’s election. The Biden campaign placed an ad on local broadcast TV stations in El Paso, marking the first time in nearly two decades that a major campaign has run a general election television ad targeting El Paso voters directly.
While these circumstances have been a huge driver of the political ad spending projections on behalf of the presidential candidates’ campaigns, we have also seen an enormous investment by super PACs and state-based organizations. In June, the Trump campaign and supporting super PACs placed $31.5 million on local broadcast TV stations across the country.
This is not to say that the uniqueness of 2020 is local broadcast TV’s first time to shine. Campaigns and media buyers have always invested heavily on local TV stations in order to reach and persuade key voters. If spending thus far is any sign of what is to come, we can expect to see a significant advertising spike as campaigns traditionally take it up a notch following the conventions and leading up to the final weeks of the election cycle.
Steve Lanzano is president and CEO of the Television Bureau of Advertising.
