They’d sell more if they had any left to sell, but many stations head into the last weekend before Election Day simply sold out. “Campaigns and third-party groups are finding it difficult to even find spots to purchase,” one political advertising guru told The Associated Press.
In some markets, stations aren’t simply sold out–they’re oversold:
In the past two weeks alone, Manchester’s WMUR-TV told political groups that their ads during “Good Morning America,” ”General Hospital” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” among others, could not be aired because the station oversold chunks of time, according to contracts filed with the Federal Communications Commission.
Advertisement“The sell-out rates are high and … television remains king in political races,” said Joy Baer, president of the Chicago-based advertising technology firm STRATA.