It might be a midterm election year, but it still feels like 2020, at least when it comes to political campaign money. Local TV stations, some national cable channels and streaming companies that are subject to local advertising are the big beneficiaries.
By-elections have always been good for the advertising business, especially for local television, where stations can fill most hours with various PAC campaigns and commercials. However, not everything looks the same this year. We will for business View Great.
Fierce fighting in states such as Pennsylvania (where Lt. Guber. John Feterman He won the race for the Democratic Senate), Ohio (where Trump endorsed Hillbil’s Elegy Author JD Vance He won the GOP Senate primaries) and North Carolina (which saw the state’s top court; beasley cherryHe won the Democratic Senate primary) Cash llocal televisions. There’s still a tough primer ahead in Georgia, Wisconsin and Arizona. And that says nothing for states like New York, where gubernatorial candidates have so far purchased a $20 million campaign ad, according to a review of their records.
Marketing analyst firm Cross Screen Media predicted a $8.8 billion increase in ad purchases for the mid-term of 2022 (for comparison, spending during the 2020 presidential election was $9.5 billion and $3.9 billion for the mid-2018 period). “We are ahead of where we are today [$8.8 billion] Tempi”, CEO of Cross Screen Media beach miguel He says. “2018 will double. Now we have a growth of 128%; this rapper [2018].”
What is happening is that campaign war chests and external super PACs are full of cash, thanks to effective and efficient online funding efforts. And when the majority of campaign spend is spent on paid media, it goes down.
“The money raised is equal to the money spent. The money never comes back,” said Sinclair Broadcast Group CEO. chris ripley He said May 19 at a conference organized by the research firm MoffettNathanson. “Politics currently has a lot of money.”
Adds Beach: “The pie as a whole is growing so fast, the whole dollar is growing so fast.”
And nowhere is this clearer than on broadcast television, whose ratings have been doubling every year for years. But since we have to reach all voters in the geographic area, whether cable or loyal viewers, the campaigns are free.
Indeed, company executives who report to local television stations do not hesitate to express their enthusiasm for the current situation. Sinclair, which owns or operates 193 stations in the US, reported $13 million in political revenue in the first quarter, beating expectations. “Some of the early races are crazy,” Ripley said. “Q2 is greater than Q1, Q3 will be greater than Q2. The really big money starts in the third and fourth quarters.”
Fox Corp. spent a record $180 million on political advertising in previous elections and hopes to surpass that this year. “Given what we’ve already seen in primary spending, we expect this midterm election to significantly exceed $180 million in revenue,” the Fox CEO said. Lachlan Murdoch He said May 18 at an analyst conference.
(Incidentally, the CEO of Fox Rupert Murdock He donated $200,000 toDavid McCormick PAC deadlock at press time in Pennsylvania Senate race against TV presenter Mehmed OzAccording to Federal Election Commission records).
Nexstar Media Group, which has 200 broadcast stations across the United States, reported political ad revenue of $23.7 million in its most recent quarter, which the company said reflected “heavy midterm early election spending.” .
“We continue to have excellent visibility after three years of our growth trajectory, as strong presidential and interim political advertising and distribution agreements are expected to renew, representing a significant percentage of our subscribers during this period,” he said. sookie-perry He said during his company’s latest earnings call.
Gray, the second-largest US broadcaster with 113 markets, announced strong first-quarter revenue growth, reaching $26 million in the three months ended March 31, up from $9 million in 2021, the “holiday year.” of the election. Generally. “Our total revenue of $827 million was strong as we began the ‘year’ of a two-year political advertising cycle,” the company wrote in its first-quarter earnings report.
But as hot as the market is for TV and media companies, it can be embarrassing for consumers who are bombarded with more campaign ads than ever before, from more followers who have more money than ever before. This is a wave of attack announcements that help explain why Gallup’s latest annual poll of trust in institutions, from political leaders to the media to big business, shows them all at historically low levels.
It seems unlikely that the political climate in the US will cool off anytime soon, with contested primaries and universal election campaigns, but it is guaranteed to continue into the next cycle and beyond. The result is likely to be more negative and a lot more money in the system.
“On the one hand, I regret that we are in the political environment that we are in,” Ripley told Moffet Nathanson at a conference. “On the other hand, it’s very good for our business.”
Source: AdImpact, cross-screen media
The story first appeared in the May 25 issue of The Gossipify. Click here to subscribe.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.