Press: TV Politics

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Campaigning for air time

In the 1976 presidential campaign, no candidate bought 30 minutes of television air time until about six months before the balloting. Election Day 1980 is still a year away, but already three top contenders are requesting half-hour spots.

The networks, in a decision that must delight sitcom fans everywhere, have refused. Stated reason: it is too early for TV politicking.

Representatives of John Connally, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter went shopping for tube time as early as mid-September. ABC and NBC told them to come back later. CBS offered each candidate two five-minute spots, one during prime time and the other during the day.

Connally and Reagan grudgingly accepted the offer—the Texan's first ad, which cost about $31,000, was shown last week —but Carter was determined to get 30 minutes in early December to announce for reelection. His campaign committee filed a complaint with the FCC. "For them to say that the political season hasn't started is absurd," said a Carter aide. "The reason they don't want to sell the time is because it'll cost them money."

Indeed, commercial spots for a half-hour episode of M*A*S*H would bring in $900,000 now, compared with the $180,000 or so the Carter-Mondale Committee would have to fork over. (An FCC decision on their case is expected within two weeks.) The networks deny that money is a factor. They argue that if they sold one half-hour spot, they would be besieged with other requests; moreover, they say the candidates would do better buying time on local stations during the primaries. Reagan's staff did just that, but on a national scale. They organized a network of stations in the nation's 50 largest metropolitan areas and many smaller ones to broadcast his declaration speech on Nov. 13.