Spending nearly a tenth of the campaign cash she had as of mid-January, Wendy Greuel last week became the first of the five major Los Angeles mayoral candidates to air television ads. As many of those television viewers receive their ballots for the March 5 primary this week, she hopes her name will be fresh in their minds.

Greuel spent $265,270 last week to air 294 commercials of 30 seconds each, according to files the FCC started requiring local television stations to post online last year. The average cost of $30 per second is on par with what presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama had to spend on commercials in smaller swing-state television markets last fall.

Greuel's ad highlights her plan to cut $160 million in waste from the city budget and redirect that money to schools, firefighters and job creation. But her chief competitor, Eric Garcetti, labeled the number as "flim-flam" and the controller's office that Greuel was elected to lead has characterized the savings as unrealistic.

Greuel bought the most ads -- 95 -- on ABC7 at a cost of $124,760. An ad during Monday night's episode of "The Bachelor" cost $8,000, same as an ad during "Shark Tank" last Friday.

Endorsements from major entertainment industry leaders and three of L.A.'s most powerful city workers' unions have helped fuel Greuel's big TV spending a month away from Election Day. If her $3 million in campaign cash starts to run low, her backers with deep pockets could be ready to step in.

Ninety-two ads on NBC Los Angeles cost a total of $75,400, including $5,000 for 30 seconds during "Deception." Greuel also spent $46,710 on CBS2 and $18,400 on Fox11.

And she's not done yet. Her campaign already secured 102 spots worth a total of $85,780 on NBC Los Angeles starting Tuesday and continuing through Feb. 11. She'll have one ad an hour each weekday morning along with several more ads in the late afternoon and evenings during newscasts and popular shows such as "Ellen."

Greuel's first ad came 37 days before the primary election. Thirty-eight days before the 2005 primary, mayoral candidate Bob Hertzberg became the first to run television ads. Hertzberg, who's endorsed Greuel's candidacy, eventually lost in the primary to incumbent James Hahn and Antonio Villaraigosa.

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