GreedyTV.org targets
McCain backs Web site meant to 'shame' broadcasters into giving time to campaigns
By Paige Albiniak -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/17/2000 8:00:00 PM
Broadcasters stand to reap hundreds of billions of dollars in revenues from political advertising this year, says Paul Taylor, executive director of the Alliance for Better Campaigns. That's reason enough why they should give free airtime to politicians for their campaigns, he says.
"Broadcasters are arrogant, greedy and profiteering on democracy," Taylor said at a Washington press conference. "They are thumbing their noses at the public interest."
Taylor has taken his efforts to get broadcasters to devote five minutes a night to political discourse up a notch with the launch of a Web site, GreedyTV.org. The site tries to shame broadcasters into giving free time by listing how many campaign dollars they are taking in.
The worst offender, according to the site, is ABC's KABC-TV Los Angeles, which has accepted almost $10.5 million in political advertising so far this year.
The site also identifies 42 TV stations-"the Good Guys"-for offering free time. That group includes fourth-highest political-profiteer Hearst-Argyle. But Taylor laments that this group comprises only 3% of the broadcast industry.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), appearing at the press conference, endorsed the site. "The broadcasters of America are not fulfilling their duties under the public-interest clause they agreed to when they received their licenses," McCain said. "Broadcasters are so greedy that they don't want to sacrifice one moment of time to the public interest."
McCain vowed to "do everything in my power to make free airtime a part of campaign-finance reform when [Congress] comes back next year." Al Gore has pledged to make campaign-finance reform and free airtime a priority, if he wins the White House.
TV's political take/Campaign ad dollars collected by top TV groups so far this year
| Ownership | Political Ad Revenue | Number of Ads |
|---|---|---|
|
ABC |
$33,312,474 |
18,417 |
|
NBC |
$23,495,089 |
15,819 |
|
CBS/Paramount |
$22,979,854 |
16,890 |
|
Hearst-Argyle |
$11,201,935 |
19,854 |
|
Gannett |
$10,598,884 |
15,433 |
|
A.H. Belo Corp. |
$ 9,532,745 |
14,682 |
|
Fox |
$ 9,219,273 |
14,532 |
|
Cox Broadcasting |
$ 6,843,394 |
8,273 |
|
Young Broadcasting |
$ 5,627,659 |
5,553 |
|
Scripps |
$ 5,604,845 |
6,842 |
|
Sinclair |
$ 5,439,036 |
16,818 |
|
Tribune |
$ 4,571,507 |
4,310 |
|
Post-Newsweek |
$ 4,400,654 |
4,521 |
|
Fisher Broadcasting |
$ 3,953,319 |
6,122 |
|
LIN Television |
$ 3,616,649 |
6,759 |
|
Meredith Broadcasting |
$ 3,027,690 |
5,516 |
|
McGraw-Hill |
$ 2,840,637 |
4,121 |
|
Sunbeam |
$ 2,654,312 |
1,580 |
|
Imes Communications |
$ 2,371,765 |
4,676 |
|
Hubbard |
$ 2,328,434 |
5,375 |
|
Dispatch |
$ 2,245,265 |
2,685 |
|
Midwest |
$ 2,206,615 |
2,852 |
|
Allbritton |
$ 2,144,300 |
3,455 |
|
Granite |
$ 2,005,208 |
4,895 |
|
The New York Times Co. |
$ 1,995,054 |
5,148 |
|
Source: Alliance for Better Campaigns |
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