Texas Alliance for Better Campaigns

609 West 18th St., Suite E, Austin, Texas 78701   (512) 472-9770   fredr@tpj.org
September 20, 2000
For Immediate Release
Contact : Fred Richardson or
Craig McDonald (512) 472-9770

Texas Broadcasters Do Brisk Political
Business During Primaries

$3.6 Million Haul for Top 4 Texas Markets


Austin—Sixteen television broadcasters in Texas’ top four markets reaped $3.6 million from political advertising during the spring primary season, according to a new report by the Texas Alliance for Better Campaigns.  None of these stations has agreed to act on recommendations from a presidential advisory commission that broadcasters air five minutes of “candidate-centered discourse” in the 30 nights prior to federal elections.

“Texas broadcasters are getting fat on big revenues from 30 second political ads. But they hate to do real reporting on issues and elections,” said Fred Richardson, spokesman for the Texas Alliance for Better Campaigns.  “They get the gravy and the voters get gruel.”

The study analyzed revenues from all political advertisements aired by network affiliates (ABC, CBS, FOX & NBC) in Texas’ four largest media markets in the 30 days prior to the March 14th primary 2000.  Those markets are Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Austin.

In the 30 days preceding the primary these network affiliates aired 5,304 30-second political ads. This means that viewers in the four markets studied were subjected to a total of 44.3 hours of sound-bite politics.

While the Texas Association of Broadcasters has argued that political advertising is a burden to  its members, new data suggests that political advertising is a bonanza for broadcasters.  During the Texas 2000 primary, the average price of a 30-second political spot in the top four markets was $608. In Houston, the average cost of a political ad was $767, and in Dallas-Fort Worth the average cost for a 30 second spot was $977.

“Texas broadcasters are profiteering from democracy. They enjoy huge windfalls from political ads that turn voters off, and then they shamelessly tell us that they can’t do a better job of covering elections because viewers are turned off by politics,” said Richardson. “The broadcasters are responsible for creating a vicious cycle that turns voters off and forces politicians to pony up.”

Other highlights of the study include:

Key Findings


The table shows the total political advertising revenue for each network in Texas’ four largest media markets.
 
 

ABC CBS FOX NBC Total
Austin
$107,385
$56,921
$30,120
$124,349
$318,775
DFW
$126,944
$41,077
$68,577
$152,258
$388,856
Houston
$472,175
$1,187,231
$124,792
$491,469
$2,275,667
San Antonio
$227,230
$228,036
$27,708
$141,251
$624,225
Total
$933,734
$1,513,265
$251,197
$909,327
$3,607,523

 

"Local television stations in Texas are leaving voters to the mercy of sound-bites and 30-second ads," said Richardson. "The public has a right to expect more from the networks and local television stations like WFAA in Dallas. Instead of leaving elections up to the highest bidder for advertising time, broadcasters should make a commitment to provide voters with brief nightly issue forums."

The Texas Alliance for Better Campaigns, in conjunction with the national Alliance for Better Campaigns, is calling on television stations in Texas to commit to providing brief nightly issue forums in the 30 days before the November 7 general election. "This fall, we’ll be watching to see if Texas broadcasters approach the political season with an eye to the public interest or simply their bottom line,” said Richardson.

The Television Bureau of Advertising predicts politicians will spend $600 million on TV in 2000, up from $400 million in 1996.

In 1998, the Advisory Committee on the Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters recommended that broadcasters voluntarily provide five minutes a night of candidate discourse in the month before elections as part of their payment for receiving, free of charge, tens of billions of dollars worth of the public’s airwaves. More than 200 civic, academic and religious leaders have endorsed the proposal as a way to move campaigns beyond a contest of money and ads.  In Texas, the proposal is supported by 20 of the state’s leading non-profit advocacy groups, including Common Cause, AARP, the Sierra Club and the League of Women Voters.

To see the full results of the survey of Texas broadcasters’ political advertising revenue, see the attached table.
 


#  #  #

The Texas Alliance for Better Campaigns is a state affiliate of the Alliance for Better Campaigns, a national, non-partisan 501[c](3) advocating a higher standard for broadcast television coverage of elections and political discourse.


home | press releases | List of Media Ad Buys