Benton RSS Feed

For those of us in the broadband policy world, the choices the electorate makes on November 6 could have repercussions for everything from network neutrality to how much wireless spectrum is released. Let’s take a look at what folks in D.C. circles see ahead depending on who wins.

As a general rule, a Romney victory would most benefit the incumbent telcos, according to a report from Stifel Nicolaus: “We believe the two Bells would gain the most from a Republican victory and de-regulatory telecom thrust, while some of their rivals would do better under the Democrats, including non-Bell wireless carriers, CLECs, and other upstarts. We suspect that cable will do fairly well under either party, with some risks, and that midsize telcos, DBS, edge/tech giants, and broadcasters face various trade-offs.”

The reason for this can be summed up in a pithy quote provided by Richard Bennett, a senior research fellow at the industry-dominated think tank Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. When I asked what was at stake for the FCC and telecom policy in this year’s elections, he said, “It’s either going to get down to Chairman McDowell or Chairman Levin,” referring to current Republican FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell or a Democrat heading up the FCC in the model of Blair Levin. Bennett said that Levin, who helped write the National Broadband Plan and is now spearheading a gigabit fiber project to connect U.S. universities, might not actually take on the Chairman role, but someone who thinks like he does would be a likely candidate.

The 2012 race marks the first time a new type of high-level campaign staffer — the digital director — had a seat in the top tier of the presidential campaigns as well as most major congressional races. In the case of President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, theirs were senior staffers with significantly more input than ever before and multimillion-dollar budgets. Nearly every major Senate race had a prominent social media guru, too. After November 6, the political world will start looking back to see how it worked and what might change next time.

Here are five burning questions to be answered once the votes are counted:

1. Was social media worth the hype?
2. Which social media channels mattered most — and least?
3. What becomes of Obama’s much-vaunted e-mail list?
4. Speaking of e-mail, is it still the king of online fundraising?
5. Where does mobile fit in the campaign ecosystem?

[Commentary] Thankfully, we’re just hours away from surviving the loudest, longest and most media-saturated segment of the entire campaign season. Single debate references have fueled new media plans before, but perhaps not quite as extensive a shift as “binders full of women” in particular.

Ad placement became prevalent on cable networks to address female voters overnight. HGTV, Food Network and Lifetime joined an already aggressive schedule across History Channel, FX, USA and other top-tier cable networks. Male-skewing networks that are typical election targets were freed up by this shift and were being offered as makegoods for other networks. TV saw an increased presence in daytime talk shows, soap operas and prime access to enhance the morning and news-focused areas. Even radio formats that were skewing female were utilized by Obama’s team to promote his stance on women’s rights and related issues. Other trends we have seen unfold in the last few weeks speak to each medium. Multiple Presidential, PAC-fueled, issue-related, and local candidate messages fill the airwaves. At least 70% of commercial breaks are filled with political ads. Opposing sides that are sometimes adjacent to each other and spot wear out are even more accelerated, with a single candidate appearing multiple times in one commercial pod. In addition to the obvious lesson around not over-saturating any one target or media outlet, one of the biggest takeaways from this campaign season is the need for flexibility in media plans.

[Inkrot is senior specialist, broadcast at Empower MediaMarketing]

It might have been the friendliest rally to ever come to the Mall — especially three days before the election. Puppets and toddlers danced. Grown-ups in furry costumes sang. A girl dressed as Cookie Monster handed out Chips Ahoy to passersby. There was even a puppet-themed wedding. The Million Puppet March — a political rally against Mitt Romney’s debate remarks about Big Bird and cutting funding to public television — may not have actually been a million puppets strong, but furry monsters came from far and near in a post-Halloween parade of support for PBS.