TV stations love super PACs

For all the talk about super PACs and nonprofit groups spending millions of dollars on campaign ads, the traditional campaigns still have one advantage: Their money goes farther.

To the viewer, an ad is an ad, but to TV stations, not all ads are created equal. Stations have to provide discounted rates to all qualifying candidates running for public offices. But they don’t have to give those same breaks to the super PACs and nonprofit groups like American Crossroads, Restore Our Future and Priorities USA, which are spending millions of dollars on the election. So that means President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney can stretch their dollar more than Karl Rove or Bill Burton. And the influx of political ad spending from super PACs and outside groups is serving as a boon to broadcasters and their corporate owners.