Rob Crilly writes for the Washington Examiner about the impact of President Trump‘s TV viewership on ad rates.
Media executives and analysts say Republican advertisers are capitalizing on the president’s well-known TV habits to target the viewer-in-chief with personalized appeals.
A review of advertising rates suggests the trend has pushed prices up on shows that frequently provoke a flurry of presidential tweets — more than 400% during “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on Fox Business Network in the Washington, D.C. market, for example.
Nick Everhart, founder of Content Creative Media & Medium Buying, said: “Whether in the Oval Office or down in Florida at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, you can count on President Trump seeing advertisements on everything from ‘Fox and Friends’ to Lou Dobbs.”
Trump’s cable news consumption is a well-known feature of his unconventional presidency. Aides told the New York Times he watches at least four hours a day — and sometimes up to eight hours.
His Twitter feed frequently fills with insights gleaned from “Fox and Friends” in the morning or Dobbs in the evening. …
… That feed has given campaigners exactly what they need to target an audience of one, according to Kegan Beran, founder and president of FlexPoint Media.
“Advertisers are constantly looking for strategic advantages to message their intended audience. Using television, to persuade elected officials, isn’t a new strategy. However, social media feedback from POTUS is something we haven’t seen before,” he said. “Until President Trump and his personally managed Twitter feed, we did not have much tangible evidence of presidential television consumption habits.”
