The calculation starts with figures from TubeMogul showing that Obama's YouTube videos totaled 14.5 hours in length, while McCain's added up to only about a half hour (not including voter-submitted candidate videos). Asked by the blog techPresident to estimate the equivalent cost of TV time, Trippi looked at the Denver market, where it would cost $35,000 for a 30-second spot reaching the city's 1.3 million residents.
Further calculation combined with the TubeMogul totals ultimately produced the estimated $46.9 million for Obama and the far smaller $1.5 million valuation for McCain's YouTube videos. Trippi stressed, however, that YouTube videos and TV ads is not an apples-to-apples comparison. TV is a push medium, while online video is more a pull one, where people have to choose to watch clips.
In any case, the exercise underscores the prominent role of YouTube in modern campaigns.--Mark Walsh