The latest report on broadcast’s take in the 2012 political advertising bonanza from Wells Fargo Securities’ Marci Ryvicker shows local television with well over a billion and a half dollars in the bank and a total television windfall only $150M short of $2B.
As of 10/14/12, local television has raked in $1.65B, and the total take is $1.84B with network and national spot are added in.
Of the local total, $429.4M was spent during the first two weeks of October.
Total political fundraising was approaching $5B at the end of September – Ryvicker pinpointed it at $4.82B as of 9/30/12.
39.7% of local spending thus far has been on congressional races, closely followed by 37.4% spent on the race for the White House.
The top five DMAs in terms of dollars spent in the category are Washington DC, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Las Vegas and Tampa. News Corporation, CBS, Gannet, NBC and Sinclair are the primary beneficiaries.
The leading markets in terms of percentage of total DMA income are Butte-Bozeman MT, Great Falls MT, Davenport IA, Sioux City IA and Helena MT. Gannett, Gray, Sinclair, LIN and NBC have been best positioned to rake in cash in these markets.
