Local advertising minimal ahead of Va. primary

The politicians are coming, but a gush of media money may not follow.

Local television and radio station managers reported modest increases in paid political advertising on Friday as the region ramps up for Tuesday's Virginia presidential primary.

High-profile weekend appearances by Sen. Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton will make it hard to miss the energy. But the ads that linger after the candidates depart may not appear as frequently as many radio and television executives had hoped.

"We're running out of time, and we're three business days away from the primary," said Nick Nicholson, general manager for WVEC Channel 13.

The end of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's GOP bid for president put a damper on expectations of a political advertising windfall, because Sen. John McCain has all but wrapped up the

nomination.

Nicholson said he expects "a little more to come in" during the final push. "But if there were going to be a huge influx of money, then I think we should already have seen that."

The cost of television ads can vary widely depending on the time of day, the day of the week, or whether the ad runs next to a popular show or one with low viewership, he said. Some time segments cost as little as $700 and others as high as $4,000, he said.

Vonneva Carter, general manager of Max Media of Hampton Roads, had hoped the campaigns would spend more and still hopes that will change. "The dollars are very minimal, " she said.

Her company operates five radio stations: WGH-FM, "The Eagle" (97.3); WGH-AM (1310); WVBW-FM "The Wave" (92.9); WXMM-FM "The Max," (100.5); and WXEZ-FM (94.1).

A ds for McCain, a Republican from Arizona, and Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, have begun airing, Carter said, and an ad for a political group supporting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is airing, but not much else.

Dave Paulus, president and general manager of Tidewater Communications Inc., said ads for Obama began airingthis week, and he considered that an exception because national political campaigns tend to avoid rock stations. Tidewater Communications operates WJOI 1230-AM, WAFX 106.9-FM "The Fox" and WNOR 98.7-FM "FM-99."

"All the candidates tend to skew their media to older audiences because they think those are the ones who vote," Paulus said. "I was pleased to see someone take the initiative to seek out younger voters."

He said he would not be surprised if spending by the Obama and Clinton campaigns suddenly surged a day before Tuesday's primary.

"It's common for campaigns to wait and then at the last minute they will literally fax you a check," he said. "You'd think they're well-thought-out operations, but in most cases it's scattered. They'll pull money out of one market and right away put it into another."

At midday Friday, Paulus said he received two orders for ads on WAFX, a classic rock station that caters to listeners 35 years and older.

The ads were placed by McCain and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is running second in the Republican campaign. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, is third.

Lisa Sinclair, general manager of Sinclair Communications, said the McCain campaign has booked time on three of its stations, but other candidates have been hesitant.

"Obama and Ron Paul looked at the market and decided no spending just yet," she said. An issue ad supporting Huckabee is running on some Sinclair stations.

Sinclair operates WNIS 790-AM; WTAR-850-AM, WPYA-FM (93.7) Bob-FM; WROX-FM (96X); WUSH-FM (US106).

One company that may not see much during this primary is The Virginian-Pilot.

Alan Levenstein, business development manager at The Pilot, said the newspaper normally does not attract many ads for national primaries.

"We don't do real well with national elections, but we do well with local ones," he said. "The national folks work in a very broad context. It's much easier for them to buy in the broadcast media."

Levenstein said he expects the newspaper to benefit from ad sales in the spring and fall elections.

Tom Holden, (757) 446-2331, tom.holden@pilotonline.com