Buying Time
Buying Time is a Washington D.C.-based, privately held political and policy paid media placement firm serving political campaigns, issue advocacy organizations, and corporate clients across television, digital, radio, print, and out-of-home channels at local, national, and international levels.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1997
- HeadquartersWashington, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Buying Time does
Buying Time is a privately held, Washington D.C.-based political and policy paid media placement firm founded in 1997 by Cathie Herrick. The firm places advertising buys on behalf of political campaigns, issue advocacy organizations, and corporate and association clients at local, state, national, and international levels, operating across television, digital, radio, print, and out-of-home channels. Its service offering is structured as an integrated workflow rather than a modular platform, comprising three core capabilities: Research & Media Planning (audience analysis, market profiling, and competitive monitoring), Ad Buying (negotiation and placement leveraging vendor relationships), and Monitoring & Maintenance (continuous campaign optimization). A wholly-owned subsidiary, Buying Time Digital, extends the firm into programmatic, social, and online video buying.
The firm's business model is professional services-based: revenue is generated through fees for media planning, placement, and management, with services quoted on a campaign-by-campaign basis rather than via published pricing. Buying Time goes to market primarily through direct, enterprise-style client relationships — particularly within the Washington D.C. political and advocacy ecosystem — supplemented by reputation-driven referrals built over 30 years of continuous operation. Cumulative placement volume is described as "hundreds of millions of dollars" across national, international, spot, and rural markets, with senior team member Danny Neckel alone responsible for nearly $200 million in lifetime buys. The firm employs 11-50 people and has no disclosed external funding, operating as a bootstrapped, founder-led LLC.
Customer concentration is moderate, anchored by a recognizable cluster of pro-Israel groups and super PACs alongside a broader base of political, advocacy, and corporate clients. The principal operational risks are inherent to election-cycle lumpiness in revenue and the recent loss of Nathaniel Kronisch, former Vice President and CEO of Buying Time Digital, which creates a continuity question for the digital subsidiary and senior leadership bench.
Buying Time firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Buying Time
- Legal name
- Buying Time LLC
- Website
- https://buying-time.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1997
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Buying Time is a Washington D.C.-based, privately held political and policy paid media placement firm serving political campaigns, issue advocacy organizations, and corporate clients across television, digital, radio, print, and out-of-home channels at local, national, and international levels.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Buying Time industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Political Media Buying Services
- NAICS
- Media Buying Agencies (54183), Media Buying Agencies (541830)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Advertising (7310)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Digital & Programmatic Media Buying (Display, Video, CTV, Audio) (BPAFABAB)
Keywords
Where Buying Time is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Washington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Buying Time business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Media Placement Services: Buying Time places media buys on behalf of political, corporate, issue, and advocacy advertisers. The firm acts as a media buying intermediary, negotiating rates with media vendors and placing advertisements across television, radio, digital, print, and out-of-home platforms. Revenue is generated through fees for media planning, placement, and management services.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Buying Time product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Buying Time is a media placement firm that plans, buys, and manages paid advertising on behalf of political, corporate, issue advocacy, and association clients. The firm places media across television, digital, radio, print, and out-of-home channels at national, international, spot, and rural market levels, handling everything from research and audience analysis through negotiation, placement, and ongoing campaign monitoring.
Product overview
Buying Time is a unified paid media placement service (not a modular platform) offering three integrated capabilities: Research & Media Planning, Ad Buying, and Monitoring & Maintenance. These services work together as a single workflow where planning informs buying, and ongoing monitoring drives optimization. The company also provides Digital Media Services as part of its core offering, combining traditional linear media with digital channels. There are no separate product tiers, add-on modules, or distinct brand portfolios—the offering is a single integrated media placement service for political, corporate, issue, and advocacy campaigns.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Research & Media Planning
- Ad Buying
- Monitoring & Maintenance
- Digital Media Services
Quantifiable outcome
- Hundreds of millions of dollars of media buys placed on behalf of clients
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Buying Time
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Buying Time technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Buying Time partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Buying Time competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- GMMB: One of the largest Democratic-aligned political media and consulting firms in the U.S., offering strategic communications, paid media buying, and digital services. Comparable to Buying Time as a senior-tier political media buying partner for national and advocacy campaigns; former Buying Time employee Katie Wildman worked on GMMB's media team during 2008 and 2012 election cycles.
- BrabenderCox: Republican-leaning political consulting and media buying firm serving candidates, party committees, and corporate advocacy clients. Directly comparable as a political media placement firm operating across broadcast, cable, radio, digital, and out-of-home channels.
- Doak Shrum Harris Sherman & Donilon (HSD): Bipartisan political and public affairs media firm providing strategic communications and paid media placement. Comparable to Buying Time as a political media buying firm; founder Cathie Herrick previously worked at Doak Shrum Harris Sherman Donilon before founding Buying Time.
- McCarthy Hennings Whaley (MHW): Republican political consulting and media buying firm serving federal, state, and local campaigns. Directly comparable to Buying Time as a multi-channel political media placement firm operating in Washington, D.C. with similar client roster of candidates and conservative-aligned organizations.
- National Media Research, Planning & Placement: Specialized political and advocacy media buying firm focused exclusively on paid media placement across broadcast, cable, radio, and digital. Most direct functional peer to Buying Time given its pure-play placement model and similar client base of campaigns and advocacy organizations.
- FP1 Strategies: Republican political media firm providing paid media placement, strategy, and consulting for candidates, super PACs, and advocacy organizations. Comparable to Buying Time as a traditional multi-channel political media buyer with similar client mix of campaigns, super PACs, and advocacy groups.
- Squier Knapp Dunn (SKD): Full-service political consulting and media buying agency serving Democratic campaigns, ballot initiatives, and advocacy clients. Directly comparable to Buying Time as a multi-channel political media placement firm; founder Cathie Herrick previously served as media director at SKD, indicating near-identical service offering.
Emerging players
- Bully Pulpit Interactive: Digital-first political and advocacy agency offering creative, paid media, and analytics services to campaigns and causes. Overlaps with Buying Time on political paid media placement but emphasizes digital channels, creative content, and integrated strategy over pure multi-channel placement.
- Targeted Victory: Republican political digital media and consulting firm specializing in data-driven, programmatic, and CTV campaign execution. Comparable to Buying Time in serving political and advocacy advertisers but differentiated by digital-first capabilities and heavier technology orientation.
- Red Curve Solutions: Republican political media and consulting firm offering paid media buying and campaign strategy. Overlaps with Buying Time in political media placement but with a smaller scale and stronger digital orientation.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Buying Time social profiles
Digital presenceBuying Time financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Buying Time leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles18 records
Buying Time subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Buying Time funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Buying Time M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Buying Time
What does Buying Time do?
Buying Time is a media placement firm that plans, buys, and manages paid advertising on behalf of political, corporate, issue advocacy, and association clients. The firm places media across television, digital, radio, print, and out-of-home channels at national, international, spot, and rural market levels, handling everything from research and audience analysis through negotiation, placement, and ongoing campaign monitoring.
Is Buying Time a public or private company?
Buying Time is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Buying Time founded?
Buying Time was founded in 1997. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Buying Time based?
Buying Time is headquartered in Washington, United States, in the North America region.
How does Buying Time make money?
One revenue line is on record: media Placement Services.
Who are Buying Time's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are GMMB, BrabenderCox, Doak Shrum Harris Sherman & Donilon (HSD), McCarthy Hennings Whaley (MHW), National Media Research, Planning & Placement, FP1 Strategies and Squier Knapp Dunn (SKD). Emerging players are Bully Pulpit Interactive, Targeted Victory and Red Curve Solutions.
Does Buying Time have an API?
No public API is recorded for Buying Time.
What industry is Buying Time in?
Buying Time's product category is Political Media Buying Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFABAB, Digital & Programmatic Media Buying (Display, Video, CTV, Audio). Its NAICS code is 54183 and its SIC code is 7311.