TV ad buys to get more costly

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:17:53 -0400

TV and radio stations are adjusting their prices for political ads.

Time Warner Cable wants to reset its advertising rates — most likely to raise them — each week between now and the May 6 primary, Mark Johnson reports.

"If this were a hurricane, we'd call it price gouging," said Republican political consultant Paul Shumaker. "The question is whether the public gets upset when it happens to politicians."

Mark Prak, a Raleigh-based communications lawyer, said Time Warner is managing a limited inventory of time when there's a sharp increase in demand for it.

Not only will the increased demand push up prices, but Congress passed legislation in 1972 that guarantees "reasonable access" for themselves and the presidential candidates. State candidates don't get that guarantee.

"The federal candidates get to go to the front of the line," Prak said. He cautioned, though, that campaigns get a price cut that other advertisers don't, and broadcasters try to accommodate all campaigns.