Miami Beach mayoral candidate pays $55,000 for an ad during NBA Finals. Watch it here
A political newcomer running for Miami Beach mayor paid a whopping $55,000 for a 30-second advertisement scheduled to hit TV screens across South Florida during Friday’s NBA Finals game between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets.
Bill Roedy, the former CEO of MTV Networks International, will look to introduce himself to Miami Beach voters with the splashy ad buy, touting his resume as a West Point graduate, Army veteran and humanitarian in the fight against AIDS.
The ad is set to run around 9:08 p.m. Friday on WPLG, Miami’s ABC affiliate. The game tips off at 8:30.
“Miami Beach: Bill Roedy is running for mayor. So, who is he?” begins the ad, which Roedy’s campaign released Friday on YouTube.
The ad highlights crime, traffic and sea-level rise as key issues in the city. It concludes: “Bill Roedy for Miami Beach mayor. Because we deserve action with integrity.”
The cost of the spot was included in a federal FCC filing required for all political programming, and represents an unusually large advertising expense for a Miami Beach candidate.
In a press release Friday, Roedy’s campaign said it was just the beginning of a “bold communication blitz.”
“Following this ad, constituents can expect to regularly see Roedy’s name and image on their TVs, magazines, and social channels and walking through the city’s different neighborhoods,” the press release says.
Roedy, 74, filed to run for mayor June 1 and said he plans to largely self-fund his campaign while also raising money ahead of the November election.
He will look to succeed Mayor Dan Gelber, who is term-limited, against opponents who include former Miami Beach elected officials Michael Gongora and Michael Grieco and current Commissioner Steven Meiner.
Roedy graduated from North Miami High School before attending the United States Military Academy at West Point, then served a year in Vietnam during the Vietnam War and commanded several NATO nuclear missile units in Italy during the Cold War.
He attended Harvard Business School and worked at HBO for a decade before leading MTV’s global expansion in the early 2000s.
This story was originally published June 9, 2023 at 4:55 PM.
