With key victories in Texas and Ohio, Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has justified staying in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination with Barack Obama (D-IL). This means there will not be an early end to spending by two campaigns that have demonstrated an astonishing ability to rake in the cash.
Wachovia analyst Marci Ryvicker says that the extended competitive primary season will propel the political category to the high end of projections, up to as much as 4.4B. She says 2.7B of that will go to television outlets.
The companies standing to benefit from the remaining primary schedule are Gray Television, which has 30% revenue exposure, followed by LIN Television (28%), Hearst-Argyle (24%), Sinclair Broadcast Group (20%), CBS (13%) and Entravision (6%). Ryvicker based her analysis on the presence of big four affiliates within each group other than Entravision, which was included due to its high-viewership news programs.
Here’s what’s left:
March 8: Wyoming (D)
March 11: Mississippi
April 22: Pennsylvania
May 6: Indiana, North Carolina
May 13: Nebraska (R), West Virgina (D)
May 20: Kentucky, Oregon
May 27: Idaho (R)
June 3: Montana (D), New Mexico (R), South Dakota
