Casting Politics
Networks Ramp Up Their Own Campaigns
by Tim Clark -- Multichannel News, 3/23/2008 8:00:00 PM
In this story:
STAR POWER
ROCKING THE VOTE
HILL-MARK CHANNEL
Women-targeted cable networks are paying especially close attention to this year’s election and its issues, in large part due to Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid and its potentially historic outcome.
Lifetime Networks and WE TV have embarked in ambitious campaigns to heighten awareness around top-of-mind women’s issues, while bolstering brand loyalty and advertising dollars; and Hallmark Channel landed in the political spotlight when Clinton bought time on the network last month.
According to a national poll included as part of Lifetime’s nonpartisan “Every Woman Counts” campaign, nearly two-fifths of all women, and almost half of women 18-34 and 65-plus, believe the upcoming election is more important than previous elections. In addition, nearly one in four women say that they are paying more attention to the race because a woman is running, and one-fifth report that they are more likely to vote for Clinton.
“Whenever you have a woman in a breakthrough role the way Hillary is now, women are going to look at politics differently and have different expectations,” said Meredith Wagner, executive vice president of public affairs at Lifetime. “Every Woman Counts demonstrates to our viewers that we are there for them and we want to help them in this process. We want to encourage them to run for office and vote.”
Though Every Woman Counts launched in 1992 and is now entering its fifth presidential election cycle, the 2008 campaign comprises the network’s most extensive programming, online content and grassroots initiatives to date, including a town hall and a televised forum with presidential candidates.
Lifetime is also going cross-country asking women, celebrities and candidates what issue tops their agenda by completing the statement: “If I Were President, I would…”
The wide array of responses — collected on-camera, online and on postcards at grassroots events — will be highlighted in monthly on-air, broadband and video-on-demand vignettes and ultimately will be delivered to the newly elected leaders in the White House and the Capitol in January 2009.
“The amount of celebrities we are working with has increased tremendously,” said Wagner. “We have a long-standing relationship with Queen Latifah, and I think that her prominence has helped us attract even more names. We have a laundry list of people who are working with us this year, which is really exciting.”
Queen Latifah inaugurated the campaign by recording spots during her “The Trav’lin’ Light” concert tour.
STAR POWER
Halle Berry, Mary J. Blige, Fran Drescher, Jodie Foster, Daisy Fuentes, Patti LaBelle, Ricki Lake, Reba McEntire, Alyssa Milano, Molly Shannon and the cast of Lifetime’s Army Wives are just some of the other celebrities who have taped public service announcements urging women to speak out and vote.
Wagner also cited the importance of technological advances in keeping the campaign fresh. Recalling how staffers had to lick stamps and envelopes when the effort first launched, Wagner said, “Now with the click of a button we can customize information on the Web site and viewers have immediate access to campaign information. This leap in technology absolutely changes everything that we do and because this election has been remarkable in that there have been so many breakthrough aspects to candidates, it certainly changes the way everybody views it.”
While Wagner wouldn’t say that Clinton’s bid has drawn more women viewers to Lifetime, she does believe her run has made women more interested in the election process. This type of commitment to advocacy is valued by Lifetime’s advertisers, whether they advertise directly or they see the halo effect of being associated with the network due to its social responsibility aspect, she said.
“With Lifetime it’s a very different level of commitment,” said Wagner. “We’re walking the halls of Congress on behalf of our viewers. Advertisers can tell when something is real or not.”
Insurance company Nationwide, for instance, is a new sponsor to the Every Woman Counts campaign, with a full-year commitment.
Steven Battaglia, senior correspondent for TV Guide, believes Every Woman Counts helps further distinguish the network’s brand in the women’s programming space.
“The [public service announcements] are one way they’ve held onto the 'women for television’ category,” said Battaglia. “PSAs help enhance this theme, especially where regular programming might fall short of delivering it.”
ROCKING THE VOTE
Rainbow Media’s WE has also embarked on its own ambitious initiative called “WE Vote ’08,” which aims to get 1 million women registered to vote while educating them on the issues they have deemed important: healthcare, education and the economy.
“What we have built is a national campaign to reach every corner of the country and galvanize women to register to vote en masse,” WE executive vice president and general manager Kim Martin said. “Having a strong female candidate may have heightened some women’s interest in this campaign; however elections are always important for women to be involved in and we are motivating women, in a nonpartisan way, to make sure their voices are heard.”
The WE Vote ’08 campaign includes a series of public service announcements featuring female celebrities such as Kelly Ripa, Kerry Washington and LeAnn Rimes, along with a multiplatform marketing campaign designed to drive voter registration on national and local levels.
The multitiered year-long campaign will be co-chaired by 1984 vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro and former U.S. House of Representative Susan Molinari, and assembles a group of nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations, including Women’s Voices. Women Vote; America’s Promise Alliance; Women’s Campaign Forum, and The Creative Coalition, in addition to cable organizations such as the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Women in Cable & Telecommunications and the Association of Cable Communicators.
WE also interviewed celebrities at The Spirit Awards asking what issues are most important to them in the upcoming election and placed them online.
Martin wouldn’t elaborate on advertising revenue tied to WE Vote ’08, and said WE does not view this campaign as a means to promote and air other types of political programming on the network.
“What we are building here is a national grassroots campaign that hopes to reach every corner of the country,” said Martin. “WE Vote ’08 is the culmination of months of planning, outreach and research at the network, and we are very proud to have so many women leaders and key groups onboard.”
HILL-MARK CHANNEL
Perhaps the most visible intersection of cable and the Clinton campaign was the February 4 Hillary’s Voices Across America national town hall, the first hour of which aired live on Hallmark Channel. Voters were invited to participate by attending the anchor event in New York or one of 21 satellite simulcast events across the country, watching it live on television or viewing a real-time stream of the event at hillaryclinton.com.
While Hallmark would not disclose how much the Clinton campaign paid for the 60-minute spot — after which the network immediately cut back to regular programming — the New York Post put the cost at about $500,000.
Network president and CEO Henry Schleiff said Clinton chose Hallmark as a vehicle to help with her campaign because its audience is made up of women and adults in the 25-54 demographic and baby boomers.
“This is the audience she wanted to reach and Hallmark Channel provided that,” said Schleiff. “Being involved in the political process is relevant to our audience. As the largest interactive town hall meeting ever in American politics, this was our way of emphasizing that we’re relevant to today’s society.”
Schleiff estimated that a “good portion” of the 600,000 people that tuned into the town hall were not familiar with Hallmark and would ordinarily get political news from CNN or Fox News Channel. “But whenever we can do something of current interest — a movie about a particular subject or the like — it makes us more relevant.”
But TV Guide’s Battaglia thinks economics also played a role in Clinton’s choice of network, saying Hallmark offered “the best available cable network at the price.”
Battaglia also questioned the televised town hall’s longterm value, for either Clinton’s campaign or Hallmark’s brand. “She probably saw an opportunity to reach the audience she wanted to reach,” he said. “But since the ratings weren’t stellar, I am not sure it really had that much impact anyway. Other than money, I don’t really see the value that this adds to the Hallmark Channel’s brand.”
Still, Schleiff believes it was successful from a branding standpoint, and cited the coverage it received on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show With Jon Stewart as a way of extending the brand’s reach. “That’s a new and different audience for us,” said Schleiff.
No related content found.
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
