Wisconsin Budget Battle Leads to Advertising Windfall for Local Stations

The Wisconsin budget battle has provided an unanticipated stimulus for stations throughout the state.  According to a new report, roughly $1.9 million has been spent by those for and against the governor’s budget proposal.

Here’s the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Opponents of Gov. Walker’s plan had spent an estimated $1,031,500 statewide, while supporters of his plan had spent an estimated $831,000, according to CMAG, the ad-tracking firm that monitors political advertising around the country.

The ad war is being waged not just in Milwaukee (the state’s biggest media market) and Madison (the state capital and scene of the protests) but in the state’s other TV markets of Green Bay, La Crosse/Eau Claire and Wausau/Rhinelander. More…