Ads flood Denver airwaves with new fervor

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By Valerie Richardson

DENVER | The Mile High City was awash in political advertising this week, but that had more to do with the situation in Colorado than the arrival of the Democratic National Convention.

State advertising executives said campaign ads dominate the airwaves like never before, thanks to Colorado's newly minted status as a swing state. Both the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns have said the state is pivotal to their respective successes.

Combine that with the open Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Wayne Allard, two open House seats and a ballot full of high-profile initiatives, and you've got a recipe for nonstop swaying.

"Colorado is now in play like it hasn't been before," said Mark Cornetta, president and general manager of KUSA-TV, the NBC-TV affiliate, and KTVD-TV in Denver. "The political advertising has been on fire since July, and I don't see it stopping until November."

Most station managers said they didn't register a spike in political advertising for the week of the convention, noting that contracts are usually for several consecutive weeks.

"We did have a lot of political advertising on the air this week, but we also had a lot on the air last week," said Jim Sieke, general sales manager for KMGH-TV, the local ABC-TV affiliate.

Many party committees and candidates officially refrain from holding fundraisers during their convention week, preferring instead to use the time to booster party unity and enthusiasm.

But they also know that with focus on Denver, convention week is a vital time to raise awareness for their candidates, which can translate into contributions.

"I don't know if you can say there are more ads this week because of the convention," said Matt Miller, spokesman with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). "... They'll be more ads next week than this week - it'll ramp up every week until the election."

At the same time, he said, the national attention Denver received after being awarded the convention may have brought the city to the attention of national advertising campaigns.