TLL Really ad.jpg
Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Terri Lynn Land, appearing in a TV ad titled "Really?" earlier this year.
(Courtesy YouTube)
GRAND RAPIDS, MI — The days of nonstop television political advertisements are over. Until the next election, that is.
Viewers in West Michigan couldn't escape the bombardment of ads during the most recent campaign cycle, and perhaps that's an understatement. One research firm said its figures show WZZM-TV 13 ran 1,820 ads during the time leading up to Tuesday's election — the most of any individual TV station across the county.
"This year was unusual in a number of different ways," said Janet Mason, general manager and president of WZZM.
The station saw a big wave in political ads in the last two weeks with a greater number of candidates.
She said while the station still is working to figure out how much money was brought in, it was "a good year," though not the best despite the sheer number of ads.
Related: State has some of the highest political ad spending in country, study shows
Generally, where there are competitive races, more ad time will be purchased and seen, CNN's Brian Stelter wrote.
The region's TV market includes Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo-area stations, which cover a large area serving as a battleground for numerous races. A founder of Echelon Insights, a Republican-leaning research firm, told Stelter that the market was prime for "heavy spending" in the governor's race, state Supreme Court races, efforts to unseat U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, and others.
At the top of the ticket, the Democratic and Republican governors' associations dumped a combined estimated $17.3 million, targeting incumbent Gov. Rick Snyder and challenger Mark Schauer — the most spent in any state, according to The Center for Public Integrity.
The Michigan Campaign Finance Network observed the state's top 150 political action committees raised $60.1 million since Jan. 1, 2013, through the end of October 2014 — a 73 percent increase compared to the previous election cycle.
Founder Rich Robinson and his organization now are busy crunching final ad spending numbers from across the state, but he said it's likely WZZM had relatively inexpensive ad rates to attract a greater number of advertisers.
"There was a lot of money chasing a finite inventory of ad time," Robinson wrote in an email. "Maybe its programming lineup had particular appeal.
"Also, it has chosen not to place ad contracts of 'issue' ads about state candidates in its public file. That probably makes it somewhat more attractive to entities that don't want to leave a trail of their activity."
The station expanded its newscasts in recent months, establishing shows in the early morning, after noon and 5 p.m. that provide clients additional opportunities to advertise, Mason said.
More political ads are a curse and a blessing for the station. Additional revenue is certainly a positive, but there are some local and national clients who either refuse to buy ad time or get their ads on the air during the political season, she added.
Related: Gators, guns and a whole lot of squealin': Political ads from around the country
Andrew Krietz covers breaking, politics and transportation news for MLive and The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at akrietz@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.