Competitive Campaigns Offer Stimulus Package for Stations

By Andrew Gauthier 

Associated Press

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.

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Several factors created the upsurge More…

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