TV Stations Benefit from Political Ads
The AP reports:
NEW YORK (AP) — For TV viewers, this cutthroat election year is a riot of attack ads and media saturation made possible by big-money donors. For TV stations, it's a stimulus package.
One research group expects TV political spending to hit a record $3 billion, and the windfall may continue well past Election Day because regular advertisers are getting squeezed out of the schedule and could spend their ad budgets later. Coming out of a recession that put some broadcasters in or near bankruptcy protection, political spending is emerging as a critical — but temporary — source of revenue.
Several factors created the upsurge: tea party enthusiasm, self-financed millionaire candidates, an unusually high number of toss-up races and a Supreme Court ruling in January that eased rules on corporate campaign donations.
Ad rates are going up overall because political campaigns are taking up much of the commercial time. Station managers say many regular advertisers aren't able to buy ads now. That frees up money to spend later.
"The money is much stronger than we anticipated, and we thought it would be pretty big," says Chris Bailey, who manages ABC affiliate WOLO in Columbia, S.C. His station is benefiting from a particularly expensive House race, one where Rep. Joe Wilson — famed for his "You lie!" outburst during last year's State of the Union address — is fighting to keep his job.
