Local TV Stations Booming From Super-PAC Windfall

According to data compiled by Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG), political advertising in Iowa is up more than 300 percent over the 2012 campaign. One reason is that both parties have competitive races. Even more significant for the bottom line: almost every serious contender has his or her own super political action committee, supposedly independent entities that, unlike the candidates, can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money.

Four years ago at this time, there was a handful of outside groups and only one significant outside spender in Iowa: Crossroads GPS, founded by veteran Republican strategists Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie. Today there are 14, compared to just four candidates who have bought TV time so far, and the impact has been dramatic. Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 5, there were 11,597 political spots broadcast, according to CMAG, a 335 percent increase from the same period four years earlier. While it's hard to accurately estimate how much this will mean to the stations' bottom lines, because of the complex record-keeping involved, there's no question that the proliferation of super-PACs will vastly enhance the normal election-year bonanza. The TV stations love the extra super-PAC business, especially since the outside groups often pay some of the highest rates.