The Strategic Benefits of Reserving Early

By Kyle Trygstad

House Majority PAC, the only Democrat-aligned outside group solely dedicated to winning and keeping control of the House, announced its initial TV airtime buys for the final weeks of the election cycle. The early move signals where the party’s outside apparatus of interest groups see some of the most competitive and vulnerable seats, but the strategy runs deeper than that.

— HMP’s first buys for the fall totaled some $7.5 million across eight media markets. The group locked in relatively low rates by reserving the October and November time before the end of March. That is especially important for super PACs, which are generally charged well more than candidates and party committees. And it’s even more vital in a presidential election cycle, when available airtime is a rare commodity and the competition for it surges regular rates for 30 seconds on TV.