Horserace
October 9, 2008 5:01 PM

Obama Buys 30 Minutes Of Primetime On CBS

By
Brian Montopoli
Topics
Barack Obama
The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd is reporting that the Obama campaign purchased a half-hour of primetime airtime on CBS. A special from the Obama camp, sources tell him, will air on Oct. 29th at 8 pm.

The campaign is also reportedly in talks with NBC and Fox for a similar deal.

Contacted by Horserace, a CBS spokesperson declined to comment on the report. The Obama campaign confirmed the primetime network ad buy, reports CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic, but would not specify which network.

UPDATE: The Obama campaign has now confirmed the report, with spokesman Bill Burton saying the campaign has bought the time from CBS and is negotiating with other networks.

Such purchases are rare in modern politics, though back in 1992 independent candidate Ross Perot, "armed with more than two dozen charts and a metal pointer," made his case in primetime. A 30-minute block on CBS cost the wealthy candidate $380,000, the New York Times reported, and his buy pre-empted the show "Rescue 911."

"In October 1992, Perot drew audiences of 16.5 million and 10.5 million for 30-minute lectures/campaign ad aimed at voters," notes Hibberd. "But in Perot's second run in 1996, the candidate was rebuffed by the Big Four networks in an attempt to sell airtime. The FCC backed the networks in denying Perot airtime, saying that they acted legally in refusing."

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by mapletj-2009 October 10, 2008 8:57 PM EDT
jimgggg,

To add to the point, McCain warned of problems with the housing market two years ago as you said, but the democratic controlled congress did nothing about it, because they thought they would be discriminating against those who couldn''t really afford to be in homes and they were really pushing that.
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by mapletj-2009 October 10, 2008 8:43 PM EDT
To Seriously121: That to me was a blanket racist statement, that you think people won''t vote for him bacause of his skin color. His color is boosting Obama, not the other way around. I''m white and I would be happy to vote for a black man or woman running for president, just not Obama. The problem with Obama is that everything he says is lip service and I don''t believe in him. He''s covering up things for sure. I really want to know who he is, but he won''t tell us!I''ve heard some pretty blatent lies already coming from him and I''m concerned that we don''t know him well at all! What he says and his voting history, or lack there of, doesn''t make me believe he will do what he says. Rather, he''s just telling us what we want to hear to get into office. He''s a really great speaker who can turn a reasonable thinker into sheep. Obama is arrogant and thinks he has already won. I know that I can trust McCain more, so my vote goes to McCain!
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by tcart2 October 10, 2008 4:56 PM EDT
YEAH WAY TO GO OBAMA !! Our country is in crisis and you can afford to buy airtime. What about feeding the poor, unemployed people in our country instead of putting your ugly mug on TV for all the people to see! You make me sick, I have definitely decided my vote as of this announcement!!!
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by seriously121 October 10, 2008 4:48 PM EDT
You guys are soooooo incredibly sad. As I sit here and read this nonsense, I just can''t believe half of the things that are said. Why don''t you say it...SAY IT PLEASE and get it over with. The McCains, the Palins and some of you are pathetic and willing to do everything possible to make sure A BLACK MAN does not make it to the White House. That''s all it is...It''s the color of his skin!!! And that''s all it is. It''s disappointing being an AMERICAN right now, not black, not white...AN AMERICAN!!!
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by jimgggg-2009 October 10, 2008 3:05 PM EDT
I am a management consultant in banking and mortgage areas. Recently my wife asked me, "Which of the four national candidates has been closest to power over the causes of the economic mess and does this tie back to Enron?"

The answers are McCain and Yes.

Banks made sub-prime mortgages and sold most of them to Wall Street firms (Bear-Sterns, etc.). The banks are fairly well regulated by the Fed and FDIC. The SEC regulates Wall Street. Well, they are supposed to anyway, but totally dropped the ball when it came to those mortgages once they were owned by the firms on the Street. They built phony cases as to the quality of the paper then wrapped it all in very complex deals with multiple tranches and created various derivatives to avoid insurance regulators as well. Which brings us to Enron - an earlier example of lax regulatory oversight by the SEC and where we had a chance to learn but didn%u2019t.

The political point is that John McCain long chaired the Senate Commerce Committee and worked against regulation in all but the one instance where he criticized FannyMae and FreddyMac. Now he wants to fire the head of the SEC. A bit late now John.
Jim G. George
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by cheteunice October 10, 2008 3:05 PM EDT
Remember: ''Dewey wins!''
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by cheteunice October 10, 2008 3:02 PM EDT
There are other networks to watch or read abook or just nap
Reply to this comment
by truthpig October 10, 2008 2:38 PM EDT
john43218,

Good stuff.
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by truthpig October 10, 2008 12:54 PM EDT
More food for thought...it has been said, by Osama Bin Laden and various other terrorists, that their plan is to bring down the U.S. from the INSIDE. These people were planning 9/11 for years, they are patient. I ask you this, how can you rule out anything where Obama is concerned? He hasn''t been around long and his past is very vague. We do know some truths and they are concerning, i.e. friends and relations with radical terrorist Ayers, Farreikhan, Father Flayger, Rev. Wright to say a few...ALL AMERICA HATERS. I say it is fair to say, if you aren''t concerned about this man Barrack Hussein Obama then you''re either brainwashed or just plain stupid.
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by truthpig October 10, 2008 12:47 PM EDT
I really don"t care much about the things said about Obama,but this Muslim think is getting tired and old.Obama''''s father whom he barely knew is from a MUslim country.Posted by Talaan77

Food for thought...in the Muslim culture/faith, if your father is muslim then the children are as well. Also, Hussein is a name that can only be given to children who are muslim. Obama spent time as a child in Indonesia, went to a muslin school...not possible if you''re not muslim.
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