Atlanta TV stations lead the nation in campaign ad money
Ending runoffs could deprive TV stations of millions in ad spending
While it will be a few hours before we finally know which candidate will win the U.S. Senate runoff election, we now know that one of the biggest winners of the four-week overtime between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker will be television stations in the Atlanta media market.
For many voters, it seems like you can’t watch the 6:00PM local news, Wheel of Fortune or college football without seeing back-to-back political advertisements during the commercial breaks. That’s because for the second election cycle in a row, Atlanta TV stations have seen a huge influx in cash as candidates and their allies in Washington blanket the airwaves with commercials.
A new analysis from an advertising firm found that ABC affiliate WSB-TV has raked in more ad spending this election cycle than any other television station in the country: $86 million, to be exact. When added to the cash they have pocketed since 2020, the Cox-owned station has amassed an astonishing $232 million in just two short years.
WSB has had to rearrange programming in order to accommodate the cash infusion. Since September, they have been broadcasting a temporary 3:00PM newscast and have preempted some daytime talk shows. They also appear to have added an additional 10 minutes to their 11:00PM newscast in order to fit in more political ads.
“Not only did they have multiple competitive races, but then they got a whole extra bite at the apple” with the runoff race, political analyst Ken Goldstein told the Wall Street Journal.
WSB was not the only Atlanta station to rake in millions in ad spending this year. Fox 5 Atlanta came in fourth place nationwide, behind WSB and two Las Vegas stations.
Georgia’s newfound status as a battleground state has only fueled this increase in political advertising. In the last two years, the state has hosted a razor-thin presidential race, two concurrent U.S. Senate runoffs, a high-profile rematch for governor and another Senate runoff. Plus several competitive congressional, state and local contests.
Georgia is the only state that holds general election runoffs. But some state lawmakers have renewed calls to end the runoff system. “I have been ready for that for a while,” said State Rep. Stacey Evans, who joined a Republican lawmaker in co-sponsoring a bill to end runoffs last year. The Atlanta Democrat says she is “ready to do it again.”
But it is abundantly clear that Atlanta TV stations will be the biggest opponents to such a change. For as long as Georgia remains competitive at the national level, these stations and their owners will continue to collect millions of dollars in ad spending every election cycle.
Like almost everything else, airing ads on television has also fallen victim to rising prices. Advertising costs have risen by more than 31% from pre-pandemic levels. And as households continue to ditch cable for streaming platforms, advertisers will likely be the ones who have to cover for the loss in revenue.
So as Georgia continues to vault to national importance, you can expect these ad wars to continue over the next several years. And state lawmakers will likely get an earful from these TV station executives if they seek to end the runoff system, as these ad wars are quickly becoming a huge part of their annual revenue.
Mo money...mo money 💙💙