As Michael Corbett explains in his 33 Ruthless Rules of Local Advertising, “People do not watch television stations, they watch television programs.  If you are targeting a particular type of consumer…you may have to buy ads on more than one station in several different programs each week to reach your target audience in sufficient numbers.”

In his book, Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads, Roy Williams explains:  “TV stations and cable systems will offer dramatically reduced rates in return for the freedom to place your ads within broad windows in their daily schedule. Though the rates may look attractive, such schedules make it virtually impossible to reach viewers with enough repetition to be effective…(instead) buy advertising in the same television show over and over again.”

The 10pm local news is an effective way to reach the same person(s) over and over again.  Many are still in transit during the 6pm news, and the ability to catch up with news at 10pm rather than staying up until 11pm gives you a major advantage.

Science experiment:  Turn on the television and watch it with the sound muted.  Do that for ten minutes…if you can.  Then turn on the sound but turn your back to screen.  Which approach conveys more information and creates more interest?

The station / network is not as important as the strategy.  Hit the target every evening using the same hour(s) over and over again.