Local Political TV Ad Spending Hits $1.65B

Total broadcast TV spending pegged at $1.84B

By Jon Lafayette -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/24/2012 6:05:52 PM

With another $429.4 million spent in the first two weeks in October, local political spending on television has hit $1.65 billion, according to a new report.

Adding in network and national spots, total political spending on broadcast TV has reached $1.84 billion, according to Marci Ryvicker, senior analyst at Wells Fargo, based on data from CMAG.

Ryvicker says that 39.7% of the political ad dollars are being spent in congressional races. The presidential race accounts for 37.4% of spending.

The markets seeing the most political ad dollars are Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles, Cleveland, Las Vegas and Tampa. Companies with stations in those markets that will benefit from the added spending are led by News Corp., CBS, Gannett, NBC and Sinclair.

On a percentage basis of total revenue, the markets getting the highest proportion of political spending include Butte-Bozeman, Mont.; Great Falls, Mont.; Davenport, Iowa; Sioux City, Iowa; and Helena, Mont.