Los Angeles: TV tight with political ads

A spring mayoral election has given TV a boost in Los Angeles, and with other major categories also increasing spending, the market will be healthy for months to come.

Political spending has already ramped up, with a non-partisan primary scheduled for March 5. If no candidate receives the majority of votes–which is expected to be the case–the top two finishers will participate in a May 21 runoff.

Polls show that city council members Eric Garcetti and Jan Perry and city controller Wendy Greuel are the frontrunners.

Not surprisingly, with the political dollars flowing, the tightest dayparts are news.

“Early morning is oversold in first quarter for most stations,” says Maite Martin, senior broadcast negotiator at RPA.

“This is expected to be a continued trend for the rest of the year. Other news areas, early and late news, [as well as] access and late fringe, are very tight in first quarter.”

All of the other top ad categories are also looking to get on the air in Los Angeles, but some advertisers are getting bumped due to the political pressure.

That means the market will remain tight at least into the summer as stations dole out makegoods to advertisers bumped by political candidates.

Those looking to get on at the last minute will pay a premium.

“Expect to see double the costs in early morning and 50 percent increases in access, late fringe and late news for last-minute adds,” Martin says.

L.A. radio is also healthy, with spending and pricing up mid-single-digits versus last year, although most first-quarter business has been placed late.

The radio market isn’t as stable as TV. Some weeks are priced normally, and others are tighter with higher rates. But the market is strong overall, led by increased spending in the auto and telecom categories.

“AT&T is back after taking much of 2012 off due to the T-Mobile situation,” says Debbie Schwartzbauer, local media supervisor at RPA.

One of the top mobile carriers in the U.S., AT&T cut back on its ad spending last year following a failed 2011 bid to take over T-Mobile USA.

The Los Angeles area is notorious for its heavy traffic, which makes morning and afternoon drive time the most sought-after dayparts in the market.

There are many competitive stations in L.A., but Clear Channel stations dominate the top of the ratings chart. Over the past four months Clear Channel stations have claimed four of the top five spots, and at times the entire top five.

During the holiday reporting period the company’s soft rock station KOST-FM was No. 1 with a 10.2 portable people meter rating, according to Arbitron, followed by its contemporary hits station KIIS-FM with a 5.5.

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