STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
And I'm David Greene. Good morning.
With South Carolina's Republican presidential primary a week from tomorrow, TV viewers in that state are getting an eye-full of political ads. Seems almost everyone who's running has bought time, and so have the so-called super PACs, which are forbidden from coordinating with the campaigns, but each campaign seems to have one on their side.
NPR's Brian Naylor, who's in Columbia, South Carolina, has his TV on.
BRIAN NAYLOR, BYLINE: The airwaves in South Carolina are a lot like anyplace else. You've got car dealers dressed in silly clothes talking about their deals, and of course commercials for carpet and furniture showrooms. But South Carolina TV viewers are also seeing a lot of spots like these.
(SOUNDBITE OF A POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT)
NAYLOR: Ken Goldstein tracks campaign media spending for Kantar Media Campaign Media Analysis Group. He says there is a noticeable difference in the ad war in South Carolina, compared to the earlier nominating states.
KEN GOLDSTEIN: What's going on in South Carolina is everyone's having their say. So, Iowa was heavy, but Rick Santorum or the Rick Santorum super PAC was not up on the air very much in Iowa. The Newt Gingrich super PAC was not up on the air in Iowa. In South Carolina, everybody's up.
NAYLOR: One of the reasons for the heavy ad buys in South Carolina: TV time in the nation's 24th most populous state is a relative bargain.
Charles Bierbauer is Dean of the University of South Carolina's College of Mass Communications. A former CNN correspondent, Bierbauer says you can get a lot of bang for your advertising buck here.
CHARLES BIERBAUER: Three million dollars, or any number of dollars goes a long way in South Carolina. The television markets are modest in size, so you can do pretty well here. You can blanket the state by hitting Charleston, Columbia and the upstate market, maybe a little bit down in Myrtle Beach, and you're done with it.
NAYLOR: That compares to the next state in the primary season, Florida, with major markets like Miami and Orlando, where ad buys will be far more expensive.
Perhaps the biggest reason for all the ads and spending in South Carolina, says Kantar Media's Goldstein: This may be the last best chance for the other candidates to stop the frontrunner, Mitt Romney.
GOLDSTEIN: Everybody realizes that if Mitt Romney wins South Carolina, this race is going to be over. And so it makes no sense to save any money for anything down the line, because there's not going to be anything down the line if Mitt Romney wins South Carolina.
NAYLOR: One ad that's starting to show up on the air that's gotten a lot of buzz attacks Romney for his involvement with the venture capital firm Bain Capital. A super PAC called Winning Our Future - that backs former House Speaker Newt Gingrich - is running the ad.
(SOUNDBITE OF A POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT)
NAYLOR: Not to be outdone, a super PAC backing Romney called Restore our Future is running this spot, an ad attacking Gingrich's attack ad.
(SOUNDBITE OF A POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT)
NAYLOR: Romney himself is also on the air, already looking forward to the general election and President Obama. His ad attacks the president over a big local issue: the National Labor Relations Board's complaint - since dropped - to stop Boeing from locating an aircraft assembly plant in this right-to-work state.
(SOUNDBITE OF A POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT)
NAYLOR: Goldstein, of Kantar Media, says there have already been more than 5,000 TV spots aired in South Carolina - a rate, he says, is more akin to the final week of a general election than a small-state primary season.
Brian Naylor, NPR News, Columbia, South Carolina.