Oh how the revenues rolled in during Q3 for television stations, as the Bush and Kerry campaigns exchanged fire in the battleground states - - not to mention plenty of Senate, House, state and local contests and issues. The Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) reports that local TV station revenues (local and national spot combined) rose 12.2% for the quarter to 4.29 billion. Network did even better, rising 24.9%, and syndication was up 16.8%, giving the overall TV industry a gain of 18.7% to 11.6 billion. As you might expect, the biggest percentage gain in the top 25 ad categories was for Government & Organizations (which includes political), which shot up 165.7% to 251.8 million. The Bush for President Committee checked in as the #19 spender at 32.9 million, while the Kerry campaign was back at #41 with 19.7 million.

TV AD REVENUES 3rd QUARTER SUMMARY LOCAL BROADCAST: Top 100 Markets
	3rd Qtr 2004	3rd Qtr 2003	% Change
LOCAL BROADCAST TV*	$4,814,146,000	$4,290,548,100	12.2
SYNDICATED TV	973,548,300	833,416,200	16.8
NETWORK TV**	5,851,093,100	4,684,982,200	24.9
TOTAL BROADCAST TV	$11,638,787,400	$9,808,946,500	18.7
THREE QUARTER SUMMARY
LOCAL BROADCAST: Top 100 Markets
	3 Qtrs 2004	3 Qtrs 2003	% Change
LOCAL BROADCAST TV*	$13,102,253,600	$11,930,855,200	9.8
SYNDICATED TV	2,898,475,100	2,470,987,600	17.3
NETWORK TV**	18,250,271,500	16,223,831,800	12.5
TOTAL BROADCAST TV	$34,251,000,200	$30,625,674,600	11.8
* Includes both local and national spot activity in the top 100 markets.
**Network figures include WB, UPN and PAX.
Source: Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) from estimates supplied by
TNS Media Intelligence/CMR.