“No major media company will miss out on President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration as they swarm Washington in hopes of cashing in on an otherwise bleak first quarter,” Advertising Age — adage.com — notes today in an article titled:

“Obama Bonanza as Media Milks Inauguration”
“MTV, QVC, BET, Time Among Those Hunting for a Few More Barack Bucks”

The Advertising Age article continues:

“The week of Jan. 20 will see a media blitz not seen since, well, the week of Nov. 4, when Mr. Obama’s victory prompted record ratings for cable news networks such as CNN, MSNBC and Fox News and sent newspapers such as the New York Times, USA Today and the Chicago Tribune clamoring to reprint their Nov. 5 issues. Now everyone from MTV to QVC to Time Inc. is hoping to augment their revenues with commemorative coverage. Even Marvel Comics is in on the action, producing a Spider-Man-meets-Obama special-edition comic book that hits stands Jan. 14.”

The day after the election certainly proved beneficial for the media, with newspapers — the St. Louis Post-Dispatch included — enjoying huge sales of regular editions, Extra Editions and reprinted front pages.

Advertising Age’s headline indicates a huge degree of exploitation by the media.

But there’s also a huge need to meet public demand and expectations. The Post-Dispatch and STLtoday plan extensive inaugural coverage — with special features and expanded coverage the week of the event.