Political Ad Buys Flood Fox in Cleveland

Obama campaign puts big bucks into WJW

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/18/2012 2:12:09 PM

Campaign ad money is pouring into Ohio and the coffers of local TV stations that clearly remain the choice of candidates for getting their local message across. That is according to a spot check of the FCC's online political file website.

Last week, Wells Fargo Securities ranked Cleveland the top market through Sept. 2 at $31,233,120.

That total continued to climb this week. For example, WJW, the Fox affiliate in Cleveland -- Wells Fargo identified Fox affiliates as having the best "exposure to those spots based on station revenue" -- had uploaded six political file ad buy postings in the span of an hour midday Tuesday after a flurry of activity Monday.

For just the Obama campaign ad buys on that one station in a single market -- files uploaded Monday for ad buys over the next two weeks -- grossed close to $450,000. Add in some House and Senate race spots whose paperwork was uploaded to the FCC site by the station Tuesday, and the total pushed well past a half million dollars, even without the five-figure ad buys from PACs, unions and others.

Fox was not the only beneficiary, ABC affiliate WEWS, for example, had six-figures-worth of political spots from the Obama campaign scheduled for the next two weeks as well.