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International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Respect Our Craft — Pay the Standard

Broadcast Spot Scripts

Broadcast Spot Scripts — TV, Radio, Streaming Audio

Drop-in-ready 60-, 30-, and 15-second scripts

Prepared for: Communications director + creative production partner Use: Paid broadcast media; complementary to digital/geofenced campaign Recommended deployment trigger: Month 4+ of campaign, after earned media has compounded enough that broadcast feels like reinforcement rather than introduction.

PART 1 — Read This First

Broadcast spots are the slowest, most expensive piece of paid media in this campaign. They are also the piece that lands in the household when the household is not looking for it — during the nightly news, in the car at 5:30 p.m., while making dinner. The right spot, played at the right time, reaches workers’ parents and spouses through a channel the digital and direct-mail tracks miss.

Three operating principles:

1. Workers narrate. Not actors. Not announcers. Every effective labor broadcast in the last decade has used real workers as voices. The single most expensive credibility mistake is hiring a voice-over actor to read worker-style copy. The audience can tell.

2. The spot solves a small problem, not the whole campaign. A 60-second spot cannot explain the substandard arrangement, the federal compliance picture, the Bridge Fund mechanics, and the political theory. It can do one thing. Pick the one thing.

3. The call to action is one channel, not five. Web URL only. Or phone only. Or a single QR code. Never all three on one spot. Test which converts, then commit.

PART 2 — The Three Core Spots

Three concepts running in parallel, each targeting a different audience.

SPOT A — “The Number” (target: Local 57 workers and their households)

A. 60-second TV / streaming video

[OPEN: dawn light over a parking lot. A pickup
truck pulls in. A worker climbs out, lunchbox in
hand. Camera follows him toward a jobsite gate.
No music. Natural sound.]


WORKER (V.O., plain):
"I'm an electrician. I work in St. Louis."


[CUT: worker at the panel, pulling wire. Real work,
two cameras, no glamour.]


WORKER (V.O.):
"For years I thought I had a good union job. I had
benefits. I had a pension. I had a path."


[CUT: a single sheet of paper on a kitchen table.
A wife's hand sliding it across to the worker. Her
voice off-camera, quiet:]


WIFE (O.C.):
"Look at this."


[CUT: the camera holds on the paper. We see, in
large numbers:


   Your contract:           $43.70 / hour
   The area standard:       $71.35 / hour
   Difference per year:     $52,000


A long beat.]


WORKER (V.O.):
"I'd been losing fifty-two thousand dollars a
year. For nineteen years, the carpenters' union
had been paying me less than the rate for the
same job. I didn't know. Most of us didn't know."


[CUT: worker at the kitchen table with his wife.
She's holding their kid. He's looking at the paper.]


WORKER (V.O.):
"There's a way out. It's confidential. It's
funded. It's real."


[ON SCREEN, white text on black:]


   See your number.
   respectthecraft.org


[A simple end card. No music swell. The IBEW
identifier appears small at the bottom for one
second.]


   Paid for by IBEW Locals 1, 2, 309, 453, 649, 124.

B. 30-second cutdown

[OPEN: dawn parking lot, pickup truck, lunchbox.]


WORKER (V.O.):
"I'm an electrician. For nineteen years, the
carpenters' union paid me fifty-two thousand
dollars a year below the rate. I didn't know.
Most of us didn't."


[CUT: paper on the kitchen table. The numbers.]


WORKER (V.O.):
"There's a way out. It's confidential. It's
funded. It's real."


[END CARD:]


   See your number.
   respectthecraft.org


   Paid for by IBEW Locals 1, 2, 309, 453, 649, 124.

C. 15-second cutdown (social and digital pre-roll)

[OPEN: paper on the kitchen table. Camera pushes
in on the numbers.]


WORKER (V.O., urgent but plain):
"Fifty-two thousand dollars a year. Below the
rate. For nineteen years. I didn't know. Now I do."


[END CARD:]


   See your number.
   respectthecraft.org

D. 60-second radio

[OPEN: ambient sound — a jobsite from a
distance. Then the worker's voice, close, plain.]


WORKER:
"I'm an electrician in St. Louis. I work for a
carpenters' union local. For nineteen years they
paid me below the rate for my own trade. That's
fifty-two thousand dollars a year. I didn't know."


[A two-second pause. No music.]


WORKER:
"There's a fund for guys like me. It covers your
income while you transition. It covers your
family's healthcare. It gives you back some of
the pension you should have earned all along.
It's confidential. There's nothing to sign. There's
nothing to lose by asking."


[ANNOUNCER, brief and quiet:]


ANNOUNCER:
"See your number at respectthecraft dot org. Paid
for by I-B-E-W Locals One, Two, Three-oh-Nine,
Four-Fifty-Three, Six-Forty-Nine, and One-Twenty-Four."


[End.]

E. 30-second radio cutdown

WORKER:
"I'm an electrician in St. Louis. For nineteen
years the carpenters' union paid me fifty-two
thousand a year below the rate. I didn't know.
There's a fund that helps guys like me transition.
Confidential. Funded. Real."


ANNOUNCER:
"See your number at respectthecraft dot org. Paid
for by I-B-E-W Locals One, Two, Three-oh-Nine,
Four-Fifty-Three, Six-Forty-Nine, and One-Twenty-Four."

SPOT B — “Two Doors” (target: parents and household decision-makers of pre-apprentices)

A. 60-second TV / streaming video

[OPEN: a mother sitting at a kitchen table with
her son. She's looking at apprenticeship paperwork.
He's nineteen, hopeful. She's worried.]


NARRATOR (V.O., female, mid-50s, working voice —
not announcer):
"My son told me he wanted to be an electrician.
I was so proud. Then I learned there are two
doors into this trade in our region. They don't
look the same once you're inside."


[CUT: two doors, literally — a graphic, simple,
unornamented. Left door labeled "Local 57 / Carpenters
Electrical." Right door labeled "IBEW Electrical."
Camera holds on the doors.]


NARRATOR (V.O.):
"Same work. Same city. Different contract."


[CUT: split screen, top to bottom:


   LOCAL 57: Hourly $43.70 · Pension $1,820/mo
   IBEW:    Hourly $71.35 · Pension $5,640/mo


The numbers hold on screen for a beat too long.]


NARRATOR (V.O.):
"That's three thousand more dollars a month in
retirement. For the same hours. For my son. For
your son or daughter."


[CUT: back to the kitchen table. The mother is
looking at her son. He's listening.]


NARRATOR (V.O.):
"Before they pick a door, show them the comparison.
It's free. It's confidential. It's their future."


[END CARD:]


   Show them the comparison.
   respectthecraft.org


   Paid for by IBEW Locals 1, 2, 309, 453, 649, 124.

B. 30-second cutdown

NARRATOR (V.O.):
"There are two doors into the electrical trade in
this region. Same work. Same city. Different
contract. Different retirement."


[Numbers on screen.]


NARRATOR (V.O.):
"Three thousand more dollars a month in
retirement. For the same hours. Before your
kid picks a door — show them the comparison."


[END CARD:]


   respectthecraft.org


   Paid for by IBEW Locals 1, 2, 309, 453, 649, 124.

C. 60-second radio

NARRATOR (warm but firm, female working voice):
"Before my son picked an apprenticeship, I made
him sit at the kitchen table with me and look at
the numbers. There are two doors into the
electrical trade in this region. Same work.
Same city. Same hours. Different contract. One
of them retires you with three thousand more
dollars a month."


[Brief pause.]


NARRATOR:
"If you have a kid or grandkid going into the
trades, do them this favor. Show them the
comparison before they sign anything. It's free.
It's confidential."


ANNOUNCER:
"Respect the craft dot org. Paid for by I-B-E-W
Locals One, Two, Three-oh-Nine, Four-Fifty-Three,
Six-Forty-Nine, and One-Twenty-Four."

SPOT C — “Respect the Crafts” (target: UBC carpenters and the broader labor community)

A. 60-second TV / streaming video

[OPEN: a working carpenter at a saw horse. Hard
hands. Hard work. Music: spare, instrumental,
working.]


CARPENTER (V.O., grizzled, real):
"I've been a carpenter for thirty-seven years. I
love this trade. I love my union."


[CUT: pull wider. The carpenter looks up.]


CARPENTER (V.O.):
"But what my union has been doing on electrical
work, I cannot defend."


[CUT: a sheet of paper. A simple comparison. The
carpenters' Local 57 electrical rate. The IBEW
electrical area rate. The gap, in dollars per
hour, large.]


CARPENTER (V.O.):
"My union has been signing electrical agreements
below the rate of the electrical trade. We've
been doing this for nineteen years. The
electricians under that contract are losing
fifty-two thousand dollars a year. They didn't
know."


[CUT: the carpenter, looking directly at camera
for the first time. Honest, plain.]


CARPENTER:
"I respect electricians. I respect their work. I
do not respect what my union has done to them."


[CUT to BLACK. White text:]


   Carpenters: this is about your standards too.


[A beat.]


   respectthecraft.org


   Paid for by IBEW Locals 1, 2, 309, 453, 649, 124.

B. 30-second cutdown

CARPENTER:
"I've been a carpenter for thirty-seven years.
I love this trade. But what my union has been
doing on electrical work — paying below the
rate of the electrical trade for nineteen years —
I cannot defend. We are better than this."


[END CARD:]


   respectthecraft.org


   Paid for by IBEW Locals 1, 2, 309, 453, 649, 124.

Important production note on Spot C: The carpenter must be real. Cast from the campaign’s carpenter dissent network, with explicit written consent and full understanding of the exposure. If no carpenter is willing to be on camera, run Spot C in radio-only form with the carpenter’s voice anonymized but real, or do not run this spot at all. A hired-actor version of Spot C would be a credibility disaster.

PART 3 — Production Specifications

A. TV / streaming video

  • Format: 1920x1080, 23.98fps, broadcast-ready master + social cutdowns in 1:1, 9:16, and 4:5
  • Audio: Stereo mix at -23 LUFS for broadcast; -16 LUFS for streaming
  • Captioning: Open captions baked into all social cuts; closed-caption tracks for broadcast
  • Length variants: 60s, 30s, 15s minimum; 6s YouTube bumper for retargeting

B. Radio

  • Length variants: 60s and 30s
  • Format: Stereo, 44.1kHz/16-bit broadcast WAV + MP3 streaming version
  • Talent: Real workers and family members; voice-of-god announcer only for legal tag
  • All on-camera or on-air worker / carpenter / family voices receive:
    • Written consent for use in broadcast, digital, and print derivatives
    • Right to review final cut before air
    • Right to withdraw consent up to two weeks before airdate
    • Modest paid honorarium (consistent with SAG/AFTRA scale equivalents) — not a union-membership-conditioned gift

D. Production partner

Hire a regional documentary production company, not a generic ad shop. The aesthetic of this campaign is documentary, not advertising. Production quality matters; production polish does not.

Budget: $80–$140K for all three spot packages (TV + radio + cutdowns), depending on the production partner and the carpenter spot’s complexity.

PART 4 — Media Buying

A. TV

  • Cable preferred over broadcast for cost efficiency. Local cable systems’ avails on news (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News), sports (ESPN, regional sports networks), and local news produce strong reach in this audience at significantly lower CPM.
  • Local news ad-buy emphasis: the 5–7 p.m. local news block is the highest-conversion daypart for the parent/spouse audience.
  • Streaming (CTV) emphasis: Roku Channel, Tubi, Pluto TV, Hulu Live, YouTube TV — addressable buys in the household ZIPs identified by the campaign’s direct-mail targeting.

B. Radio

  • Drive time, both AM and PM. The worker is in the truck.
  • News-talk and sports formats over-index in the target demographic.
  • Spanish-language stations if Spot A and B are translated and recorded in Spanish (see spanish_language_adaptation.md).
  • Black-format stations (especially in Local 309’s footprint) where worker population warrants — with creative reviewed for cultural fit.

C. Streaming audio

  • Spotify, Pandora, iHeart — audience-targeted by ZIP and inferred household composition.
  • Podcast pre-roll in local-news and sports podcasts.

D. Budget allocation (Month 4 launch)

ChannelShareNotes
Local cable TV35%Anchor reach
CTV / streaming video25%Addressable, household-precise
Local radio (drive time)20%Worker audience
Streaming audio15%Younger worker audience
Spanish-language broadcast5%If translations are available

Recommended monthly budget at flight: $40–$80K, sustained for at least three consecutive months. Lower spend or shorter flights produce non-converting impressions.

PART 5 — Measurement

MetricTarget
Unique household reach in market65%+ within 4 weeks
Frequency at flight end3.5–5.5
Intake form submissions attributable to broadcast (UTM + survey)8–15% of total intakes during flight
Aided campaign awareness lift (pre/post poll)+20 points or more
Brand-search lift for campaign URL+35% during flight
Cost per intake conversation attributed to broadcast<$600

Pre/post awareness polling is the most important measurement of broadcast effectiveness. Direct-response attribution will undercount; awareness lift gives the true picture of broadcast’s contribution to the campaign’s overall conversion engine.

PART 6 — What Never to Do

  • Never use a stock-music orchestral swell. The aesthetic is documentary.
  • Never have a voice actor pretend to be a worker.
  • Never list more than one call-to-action per spot.
  • Never use “we” without defining who “we” is (the IBEW family) on first reference in the spot.
  • Never name the carpenters’ international or Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council by name in a TV or radio spot. The carpenters’ leadership is criticized by substance, never by the kind of personalized attack that broadcast formats invite.
  • Never use a worker’s full name in a broadcast spot. First names only, consented.
  • Never use the spot to make a political endorsement. The PAC and the campaign general fund are separate.

These scripts are working drafts. All copy should be reviewed by counsel and by featured talent before production. Production quality should match the documentary aesthetic of the campaign; do not overproduce. The spots are designed to land alongside, not replace, the rest of the campaign’s communication infrastructure.