Ohio and Florida have two markets each among the top 10 in political spending this year. Both are major swing states in the presidential race and have hotly contested senate races generating spending.
Former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has purchased $1 million in new airtime for the fall, bringing his total ad reservations to a full $3.5 million, according to a source familiar with the buy.
ESPN will kick off an effort to allow more political ads on college and NFL football programs in October and November, according to a report. The sports network signed on with NCC Media LLC, an ad-sales venture, to sell a larger portion of its advertising time to political campaigns.
Tampa: Strong Even Before Political Kicks In
Ad spending in Tampa has been healthy all year even without political dollars. With Florida once again a major swing state in the upcoming presidential election, campaign spending will lead to even tighter conditions in the market as the fall election nears.
Ohio Senate candidate Josh Mandel has reserved over $4 million in airtime for the last month of the 2012 campaign, according to sources. The Republican state treasurer is running a competitive race against Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. The Ohio contest is on track to be one of the most expensive in the country
Add Rep. John Dingell to the list of people who don’t like the new commercial-skipping function, known as Auro Hop on Dish Network’s new Hopper DVR. At a Wednesday hearing on video distribution held by the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Dingell complained that the service will allow potential voters to skip past political campaign messages.
Exclusives
A divided U.S. Supreme Court threw out Montana’s ban on corporate campaign spending in a reaffirmation of the 2010 decision that unleashed super-PACs and left federal elections awash in money from big spenders.
The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in April that federal law prohibiting public broadcasters from airing political or issue advertising is unconstitutional, even though the same court said a ban on commercials by for-profit products could stand. The U.S. Justice Department must decide by next week whether to ask the court to reconsider its divided decision, or bring an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Univision Communications has appointed Keith Norman vice president of political advocacy and government sales. In his new role, Norman joins a team of six marketing and sales executives led by […]
Both Republicans and Democrats are focusing the bulk of their advertising on selling their campaign message to a select group of people — those who pay close attention to the news, seek to stay informed and influence those around them.
Republican super PACs and other outside groups shaped by a loose network of prominent conservatives — including Karl Rove, the Koch brothers and Tom Donohue of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — plan to spend roughly $1 billion on November’s elections for the White House and control of Congress, according to officials familiar with the groups’ internal operations.
During the first quarter of 2012, campaigns for the five leading U.S. presidential candidates — Newt Gingrich, Barack Obama, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum — placed nearly 66,000 ads with TV stations, radio, cable and newspapers. TV stations were the top choice among all candidates, accounting for nearly 75% of all ad units.
The states, led by New York, are asking the Supreme Court to preserve Montana’s state-level regulations on corporate political expenditures. Virginia-based American Tradition Partnership is asking the nation’s high court to rule without a hearing because the group says the state law conflicts directly with the Citizens United decision that removed the federal ban on corporate campaign spending.
Details of the specific edict won’t be released until April 27 during the FCC’s monthly meeting, but the order is expected to start with network affiliates in the top 50 markets this year; most other stations will not have to send their political files to the FCC for two years.
Eight Democratic senators have asked the commission to require stations to post online versions of political advertising information that stations are already required to include in their public inspection file in paper form.
