Tuesday, June 21, 2016

CableTV News Prepping for Ratings Jackpot

The presidential primary season has been a ratings bonanza for cable-news outlets, and it can only get better when the major parties hold their nominating conventions next month, according to Bloomberg.

CNN is charging advertisers $40,000 to $100,000 for a 30-second spot during the Republican and Democratic conventions, compared with about $5,000 for a normal prime-time commercial, according to a person familiar with the matter. Fox News plans to charge similar rates, according to Ken Goldstein, a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco who analyzes polling and advertising for Bloomberg Politics. The cable networks declined to confirm the numbers.
“They will be two of the most interesting conventions in modern political history,” says Sam Feist, CNN’s Washington bureau chief.

To justify those prices, the networks are planning wall-to-wall coverage to capture as many viewers as possible. CNN will dedicate nearly all its 24-hour-a-day programming in late July to the Republican confab in Cleveland and the Democrats’ gathering in Philadelphia. Fox News will broadcast more hours of the events than it did four years ago.

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has said he wants his party’s affair, which starts July 18 at the Quicken Loans Arena, to have a “showbiz” feel. The Democrats, meeting at the Wells Fargo Center starting July 25, could also put on a lively display, with Bernie Sanders vowing to rally his troops to influence the party platform.

The cable networks are hoping to continue their momentum from the primary season, when they saw record audiences.

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