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Media Credit: New York Times Courtesy of The New York Times

Senator Barack Obama ran a 30 minute infomercial on October 29, which ran on networks that included CBS, NBC, FOX, MSNBC, TV1, and Univision. The television spot also ran later on BET. The infomercial brought in enormous ratings for the networks. However, many students at the University at Albany had doubts about the television spot or didn't even know what was going on.

The infomercial opened up with views of grains in Middle America. It also had a pre-taped interview with Senator Obama who discussed the issues of the American economy and how it should be fixed if he gets elected into office. Such efforts would include a rescue plan for the middle class that encompasses cutting taxes for Americans who make less than $200,000 a year and providing low cost loans. The infomercial ended with Senator Obama accompanied by his wife and Senator Joe Biden giving a speech live to screaming fans in Florida.

It is estimated that Senator Obama paid between 4 and 5 million dollars for the 30 minute infomercial which ran on the top networks. This also means that he paid an estimated 1 million dollars per network.

The 30 minute tv spot brought in more than 33 million viewers on Thursday night. This is 1 million more viewers than the stations had brought in the week before, the Nielsen Media Research reported.  The television spot also brought high ratings for the World Series Baseball game that was delayed by the start of Obama's 30 minute infomercial. The World Series game ranked as the number 2 broadcast of the night, having around 19 million viewers.

While Senator Obama did get the highest ratings for Thursday night, some students at SUNY Albany were not interested or unaware that Senator Obama was running a 30 minute television ad for his presidential campaign. One student was even shocked that the World Series was delayed. "What are you kidding me, the Phillies are on tonight and we have to listen to this s****. I like the guy and know he is going to win but it's a waste of time," said Freshman Megan Litman. While other students did not care what Obama said or didn't even know that he was on television, some students believed that his ad was helping to show off the financing he has. "He's collecting more money than any other candidate in US history so he wants to show what he could do. It's better than sending anymore money to Iraq," said Sophomore Student Derek.

Senator Obama's 30 minute infomercial is the not the first time that a candidate has put so much money and effort into a television campaign. In 1996, independent candidate Ross Perot ran a political ad on the eve of the presidential election which drew in 22 million viewers on three networks.

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