Obama TV Spots: Returns Great, Costs Negligible

Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) may have made history in raising big bucks for his campaign's fund-raising, but what's more incredible has been his extremely efficient media buying. Case in point was last week's roadblock of infomercials: According to one TV media executive, Obama's effective price--the cost per thousand viewers (CPM)--came out to a very cheap $1.66. The Obama 30-minute infomercial ran across four broadcast and three cable networks on Thursday night, grabbing a total of 33.5 million viewers. Such figures are incredibly inexpensive when compared against a typical prime-time network household CPM, which runs in the $12 to $14 range. It is even better against other CPM demographics--such as adults 18-49, where the price tag in prime time is now nearing a $30 CPM for 18-49 viewers, across all four major broadcast networks.