Location, Location, Location
or, How To Get Less Bang for Your Advertising Buck

I noticed a new billboard while driving to work today. (Don't ask how I distinguished it from the others in the barrage of signs along US 192 — I have no idea.) There, roadside, was the logo for WFTV Channel 9, with giant letters proclaiming "Orange County Coverage You Can Count On." And, indeed, the sign is in Orange County — but just barely. As in, less than 50 yards barely. And it's facing west, greeting drivers as they enter the county. If it were on the other side of the road, it would be in Osceola County.

The irony is that probably about half the drivers who will pass this sign daily live in Lake County. And it gets better: The other half live in Polk County, and are just outside the area WFTV has decided is worthy of inclusion in their "County-by-County" coverage. In fact, most Orlando stations don't even include Polk County in their severe-weather coverage. (For what it's worth, Lakeland is in Polk County, and is closer to Tampa than Orlando, so I understand the Tampa stations carry this information for the whole county.) I'm not sure who sold WFTV this billboard space, but I bet they could sell snow chains to a Key West resident.