According to the electoral law, all free-to-air television and radio networks must carry two 50-minute time slots a day from August 17 until September 30, 2010.
The time allocated to each candidate is based on the number of seats held by the parties comprising their coalition in the Chamber of Deputies.
The electoral programs are considered a key campaign tool in Brazil, where TV and radio are the main sources of information for most voters.
The free air time on radio and TV also includes candidates contesting races for Governors, Legislative Assemblies, and both houses of the Congress.
Parties are also allowed to run six 30-second advertisements per day.

Serra's electoral programs on TV were criticized for focusing too much on public health issues, with Financial Times correspondent Jonathan Wheatley saying that "[one] would think he was running for health minister".
In the other hand, Rousseff's programs have been noted for their professionalism and production quality, while Marina Silva's programs were criticized for their lack of cohesion.
Journalist Ricardo Noblat commented on his blog that her first TV program seemed more like "a BBC documentary on the environment" than an electoral program.
Serra was also the target of criticism by Silva on the UOL/Folha debate for the use of a scenic favela in his program, while São Paulo still has many slums.
After the airing of Serra's second program, singer Elba Ramalho, which had one of her songs featured in it, released a note stating that she did not recorded the jingle used by the candidate, and that is not her voice featured in the program.
Although she publicly supported Serra in 2002, she stated she would maintain her neutrality in this election.
In spite of this declaration, Ramalho decided to support Rousseff on the second round.

Serra's first television program was also the target of ridicule by Twitter users over the unintended double entendre of a phrase he said.
In the video, which has been posted over 24 times on Google Video, he cites examples of people which benefited from his former public office experiences.
However, in order to exemplify it, he used the preposition como, which can be used as both "as" and the first person inflection of the verb "to eat", that has a negative connotation for "to have sex with".

According to a poll conducted by Census Institute on August 20–22, 42.9% of voters claimed they are watching or listening to the electoral programs on either radio or TV.
Dilma had the best electoral programs for 56% of them, while Serra's programs were preferred by 34%.
Silva's programs were chosen as the best by only 7.5% of them.
According to the electoral law, all free-to-air television and radio networks must carry two 50-minute time slots a day from August 17 until September 30, 2010. The time allocated to each candidate is based on the number of seats held by the parties comprising their coalition in the Chamber of Deputies. The electoral programs are considered a key campaign tool in Brazil, where TV and radio are the main sources of information for most voters. The free air time on radio and TV also includes candidates contesting races for Governors, Legislative Assemblies, and both houses of the Congress. Parties are also allowed to run six 30-second advertisements per day.
Serra's electoral programs on TV were criticized for focusing too much on public health issues, with Financial Times correspondent Jonathan Wheatley saying that "[one] would think he was running for health minister". In the other hand, Rousseff's programs have been noted for their professionalism and production quality, while Marina Silva's programs were criticized for their lack of cohesion. Journalist Ricardo Noblat commented on his blog that her first TV program seemed more like "a BBC documentary on the environment" than an electoral program. Serra was also the target of criticism by Silva on the UOL/Folha debate for the use of a scenic favela in his program, while São Paulo still has many slums. After the airing of Serra's second program, singer Elba Ramalho, which had one of her songs featured in it, released a note stating that she did not recorded the jingle used by the candidate, and that is not her voice featured in the program. Although she publicly supported Serra in 2002, she stated she would maintain her neutrality in this election. In spite of this declaration, Ramalho decided to support Rousseff on the second round.
Serra's first television program was also the target of ridicule by Twitter users over the unintended double entendre of a phrase he said. In the video, which has been posted over 24 times on Google Video, he cites examples of people which benefited from his former public office experiences. However, in order to exemplify it, he used the preposition como, which can be used as both "as" and the first person inflection of the verb "to eat", that has a negative connotation for "to have sex with".
According to a poll conducted by Census Institute on August 20–22, 42.9% of voters claimed they are watching or listening to the electoral programs on either radio or TV. Dilma had the best electoral programs for 56% of them, while Serra's programs were preferred by 34%. Silva's programs were chosen as the best by only 7.5% of them.
2010 Brazilian presidential election