TV viewers should not "expect an onslaught of campaign ads" from Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump during the Rio Games unless those viewers "happen to live in one of the 10 to 14 swing states," according to Tim Baysinger of ADWEEK. With only "so many political dollars to go around," presidential campaigns "value efficiency over audience size, especially with all the ways available to reach voters." Kantar Media data estimates that the average cost for a 30-second spot for Rio on NBC is $100,000, which "would be a slight increase over the previous two Summer Olympics." That ad price for NBC's primetime coverage "could be as high" as $1M. Kantar data also shows that political ads in '12 only accounted for 1.5% of "all local station inventory" during the London Games. However, there was some big spending four years ago -- political ads took up 38% of inventory during the London Games on KRNV in Reno. Markets in other battleground states, "including Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri and Colorado," were north of 15%. Kantar Media Chief Research Officer Jon Swallen said, "There's a strong preference on the part of political advertisers for news and sports programming." While that would make it "seem like MSNBC's or CNBC's audience would be ripe for political ads, those channels will be showing more niche events in Rio." Swallen said that "most political advertising doesn't really ramp up until after Labor Day." Baysinger noted NBC "declined to say whether it had received any ad dollars from political campaigns -- though Clinton reportedly is planning a sizeable buy." NBC Sports Exec VP/Ad Sales Seth Winter "sounded optimistic earlier this year about getting some of those dollars" (ADWEEK.com, 7/31).
