Scripps Expects A Big Political Boost

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How fruitful will electoral ad spending be for The E.W. Scripps Co. this fall?


The company that just sold off all of its radio stations expects total political advertising revenue in 2018 to grow more than 50% over the last midterm election year of 2014.

The increase, Scripps notes, comes as a result of robust spending for hotly contested races in Scripps’ strong portfolio of stations in key battleground states.

Scripps expects 2018 political advertising revenue to beat its $75 million from 2014 and $101 million from 2016.

This year, Scripps markets play host to 16 governors’ races, 12 U.S. Senate races and approximately 100 Congressional races. Strongly competitive local, state and federal races are being run in Arizona, Indiana, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio and Tennessee.

“Scripps is seizing the advantage of our footprint with this year’s competitive midterm elections,” said Brian Lawlor, president of Local Media for Scripps. “While our local broadcasts are delivering political news and analysis to help our viewers make informed decisions, our advertising solutions are an important channel for political campaigns to reach potential voters with their messaging. Our dedicated team of political sales consultants on the ground in Washington, D.C., has helped boost the work of our local TV market sales teams, allowing us to realize additional revenue in this active political year.”

Scripps stations have boosted their political news coverage, including airing 100 minutes each week of news and analysis focused on local, regional and federal races and running the Scripps-produced weekly political news show, “The Race.”