TVB, television’s version of the RAB, believes local TV is ripe to garner political ad dollars and has begun its first-ever public campaign to help make that happen.
The We Get Voters campaign launched Wednesday to highlight local broadcast TV’s ability to reach and influence voters. The new website features resources for strategists; TVB will also air a television ad in DC and key primary states on Dec. 13.
TVB President Steve Lanzano describes local television as “the major driver” of political discussions and its ability to both reach and target voters is “unparalleled.”
“Political campaigns are about winning, and you can’t win if voters aren’t hearing your message,” according to Lanzano. “That’s why winning campaigns know local broadcast TV is the critical component of their media strategy.”
Some 62,462 presidential ads have appeared on broadcast television already this year, according to Kantar Media, which projects the total broadcast political ad spend to be as much as $3.6B, with TV getting the lion’s share, compared to the Internet and radio.
Key findings of a study to be released on the site include: 83% of all American political conversations happen face-to-face, with more than five weekly political conversations on average and Television is the primary source of information in almost half of political word-of-mouth exchanges.
Over 30% of political conversations happen while watching television, nearly three times more than browsing online (8%) or using social media (8%) and six times more than reading an article online (6%).
All, or 100%, of respondents’ political conversations were affected by political ads seen on local broadcast TV.
TVB will have what it says is a major presence at political events, starting with a Dec. 14 event in Las Vegas ahead of the Republican primary debate, followed by additional events in 2016.
