ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the variety of decisions that go into buying advertising time on television. It examines the targeting of ads to programs or television genres that feature different audience profiles. Tracking when political ads aired and on what networks and shows is as important as analyzing the content and sponsorship of ads in measuring the impact of political advertising. The chapter looks at how the changing media landscape has affected the targeting of political advertising, and analyzes the relationships between ad airings and media consumption to illuminate the trends and targeted political advertising. The changing media landscape has had powerful effects on the way campaigns reach voters on television. Most campaigns outsource the actual purchase of television airtime to media buyers, who typically work on commission. One decision that buyers help campaigns make is how much airtime to purchase for each unique ad, for different weeks of the campaign.
