Moody’s: Stations To Get Election Year Boost

Local broadcasters are expected to see slow growth in core ad sales, but will see a record-setting boom in political spending during the 2016 campaign, according to a new report from Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s projects ad revenue from the auto, retail and service categories to increase by 0.5 percent to 2.5 percent for the rest of 2015. That will leave total revenue down 6 percent to 9 percent from 2014, an Olympics and election year. “During election years, political advertising can account for 10 percent to 20 percent of a broadcaster’s revenue, depending on how many stations are in election battlegrounds,” said Moody’s VP Carl Salas. “Many broadcasters anticipate record-setting campaign spending and political advertising revenue in the upcoming 2016 election season.” The core ad gains reflect improving consumer sentiment and economic growth.