Belo Totals Campaign Airtime Contribution

Belo Corp.’s television stations provided free airtime to 135 congressional and gubernatorial candidates across the U.S. during the 2012 election season through the company’s “It’s Your Time” program. In addition, Belo said it aired an average of 120 minutes per week of political coverage on each of its 14 news-producing television stations in the six weeks leading up to Election Day. 

Belo said that from Sept. 23 to Nov. 5, 2012, its stations aired an average of 87 local and national election-related stories each week. The coverage included eight debates. Belo re-broadcast an average of 105 stories weekly on the company’s regional and local news channels.

The company also streamed and archived election-related stories and debates on its 20 station websites and distributed election coverage on its digital multicast subchannels, mobile applications and station Facebook pages.

Other highlights of Belo’s election coverage during 2012 included:

• A one-hour Texas Republican U.S. Senate debate which aired on all Belo Texas television stations including WFAA Dallas-Fort Worth, KHOU Houston, KENS San Antonio and KVUE Austin. The debate was streamed on each station’s website as well as on Belo’s regional cable news channel, TXCN. It was also streamed on the website of The Dallas Morning News and made available statewide to Texas radio stations and Spanish television stations. This debate was followed by an additional one-hour Texas Republican runoff debate hosted by WFAA.

• A one-hour Texas U.S. Senate debate hosted by WFAA between Republican and former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz and Democrat and former State Representative Paul Sadler.

• A one-hour Washington state gubernatorial debate hosted by KING Seattle-Tacoma between Democrat and former U.S. Congressman Jay Inslee and Republican Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna

• A one-hour gubernatorial debate hosted by WCNC Charlotte, N.C., between  Democrat and former Lieutenant Governor Walter Dalton and Republican and former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory.

“The political coverage our stations provide our local communities is essential to citizens having the information they need to make informed choices,” said Dunia A. Shive, Belo’s president-CEO. “Belo is pleased to give candidates the opportunity to air their positions on important issues through the ‘It’s Your Time’ program.”