How to Get Around Limited Local Media Inventory During Election Season

By David Alpern It happens every even numbered year; local media stations are required by law to make their advertising inventory available to all the competing campaigns in the election, and between national, state-wide, and local candidates making their media buys, there is precious little inventory left for most other conventional marketers. The 45 day period prior to a state primary and the 60 days prior to a general election are the pre-election window when all candidates to whom broadcast time is sold are entitled to the “lowest unit charge” (LUC) of the station for the class, amount of time, and time period they wish to purchase. What then are you supposed to do when you still need to move your product or service? Consider national in addition to local media. Media Partners Worldwide is one of the pioneering agencies working with SiriusXM since its earliest days as a national satellite broadcasting platform. Since all political campaigns, other than for President, are local by nature, they are not well suited for a national advertising platform like satellite radio. This is why we see bookings for other product categories increase with SiriusXM during election seasons, such as the one we are now entering with most of the national primaries and then general election still ahead of us this year. Layer in the Summer Olympics, which also takes away a significant part of national and local inventory for a sizable chunk of the summer during every Presidential election year (this year between August 5 through the 21^st) and it is understandable why considering SiriusXM advertising makes sense in 2016. And Media Partners Worldwide’s long term partnership with SiriusXM, coupled with our expertise in remnant media buying, should convince you to make the call to learn more about national satellite media buying. Call Natalie Hale at 562-439-3900. Here are the 2016 lowest unit charge date ranges by state: ]]>