Media companies are some of the most active companies in the country when it comes to lobbying politicians. A big part of lobbying is donating money to political campaigns. With the DNC and RNC right around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to look and see which politicians the media companies have been donating to during the 2012 cycle through their PACs.
Some disclaimers: different companies donate different amounts of money through their respective PACs. Comcast gave over $2,000,000 this cycle, compared to CBS, which gave a relatively paltry $100,000. In addition, many of the recipients are, not surprisingly, members of the House and Senate committees and subcommittees that oversee media and technology businesses. All of the data was culled from OpenSecrets.org.
Comcast: The owner of NBCUniversal was by far the largest donor in the media space, giving over $2 million to politicians this cycle. It was also very even with regards to where it spent its money, giving $1.06 million yo Democrats, and $965,000 to Republicans. Most of the money went to party leaders in both houses, as well as committee members, and representatives in states where it has a large cable footprint. The CEO of Comcast, Brian Roberts, and the CEO of NBCUniversal, Steve Burke, both donated money to Democratic PACs and politicians.
News Corp: The parent company of Fox News has given $759, 525 so far this cycle, with most of it going to Democrats. Democrats received $510,721, compared to $251,204 to Republicans. The list of recipients is heavy on party leaders and committee members. While the company PAC is giving to Democrats, News Corp, CEO Rupert Murdoch still donated almost exclusively to Republicans, according to filings.
Walt Disney Company: The owner of ABC and ESPN gave $317,500 to politicians this cycle, with $152,500 to Democrats and $161,500 to Republicans. Just like Comcast, the money flowed to party leaders, committee members and reps from places like California and Florida, where the company has a large presence.
Time Warner: The parent company of CNN and HBO gave $208,500 this cycle, with $110,000 going to Democrats, and $98,500 going to Republicans. As with Comcast and Disney, the money went primarily to committee members and party leaders.
Univision: The Spanish-language network’s PAC donated heavily to Democratic politicians, with $118,500 of its $134,000 donations going to Democrats. Republicans received $15,500 from the PAC, all of them in Florida, where the company has a large presence.
CBS: The Tiffany Network gave $100,000 to politicians so far this cycle, with the scales tipping slightly in the favor of Democrats. Democrats got $57,500 compared to $42,500 for Republicans. Committee members and house leaders led the pack.