| Media Market |
GRPs |
| Bakersfield |
806 |
| Chico-Redding |
603 |
| Eureka |
631 |
| Fresno-Visalia |
986 |
| L.A. |
1008 |
| Monterey-Salinas |
635 |
| Palm Springs |
806 |
| Sacramento |
984 |
| San Diego |
1008 |
| San Francisco |
702 |
| Santa Barbara |
929 |
Think about it. For the amount of money that she's spending on TV commercials, Meg could just save the state parks for a few years. As Angelides media consultant Bill Carrick told CalBuzz, "these are big fuckin' numbers."
"These are some big fuckin' numbers," said Bill Carrick, the veteran Democratic media consultant after reviewing the report. "She's buying the whole shebang."
As a practical matter, 1,000 GRPs a week means that an average TV viewer in a large market would have about 10 opportunities a week to see a Meg Whitman ad; in smaller markets, with only two or three stations, 700-800 GRPs would be a significant buy. Here's what the internal campaign report shows she's doing around the state (N.B. Calbuzz did not independently confirm these numbers) -->
This level of ad buys will not only create viewer/voter fatigue, as Carrick points out, but it also costs a boatload of cash. Now, it's a relatively small amount of cash when compared to her eBay bank account, but the money is still real. And while I was certainly kidding about her bailing out the state parks (she'd be in favor of selling the naming rights, I'm sure), the amount of money she's spending on these ads would reopen the closed campsites and facilities around the state.
Since she's avoiding the reporters who are paid to ask questions of our candidates, she's planning on just buying the media time. Thing is, elections aren't just ebay auctions. You don't just get to be the high bidder and take home the goodies. |
