CNN will reportedly break with decades of tradition and run commercials during its coverage of the debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
The struggling cable news channel, which has acquired the first of two debates to air on June 27, revealed its decision to allow advertising in access rules recently issued to members of its D.C. TV news pool, subscribers to its feed and CNN affiliates. Variety reported Late Thursday.
During past election cycles, presidential debates have been conducted without advertising and are overseen by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.
But this time the candidates bypassed the committee and made separate deals with CNN and ABC News, who will host the presidential debate on September 10.
CNN’s decision to advertise means rivals Fox and MSNBC, which also air the feed, can sell their own commercials during the debate, likely at a higher price than the third-largest cable news channel, sources told Variety.
CNN did not provide any information about the number or length of ads that would air during the debate, which is moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
During the week of the debate, CNN plans to provide formatting guidelines to its networks, including information on the length and placement of commercial breaks, according to a source familiar with the matter.
CNN declined to comment.
Fox and MSNBC will be able to sell advertising against CNN’s broadcasts, but they will be prohibited from filling commercial breaks with commentary by their own analysts.
During breaking news, cable news networks often run commentary from anchors and contributors alongside commercial breaks to keep viewers from changing channels.
In this case, MSNBC, for example, would not be allowed to surround CNN’s feed with the comments of Rachel Maddow or other commentators giving their opinions on the debate.
Advertisers were not allowed to run commercials during the presidential debates, but they clamored to be included in the debates.
Variety magazine reports that Anheuser-Busch InBev It has been serving beer and food for many years. in pop-up beer gardens set up in the auditoriums and theatres where the debates were held.
Additionally, advertisers ran commercials mentioning the debate before it took place.
In 2016, Audi ran an ad showing two valets battling for control of an Audi RS 7 on the night of the first debate between President Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“Beautiful things are worth fighting for,” the ad states. “Choose your next driver wisely.”
It’s lucrative for broadcasters to sell ads after presidential and primary debates because viewers are hungry for analysis on some of the biggest political issues.
In 2016, Variety reported that CBS $200,000 to $225,000 for a 30-second ad in the press The event took place after the debate between Trump and Clinton.
In 2019, CNN was seeking roughly $300,000 in advertising commitments on the network. Variety noted that the bill would come into force before potential sponsors have the opportunity to buy ads during the two Democratic presidential debates.
