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The Federal Communications Commission requires television stations to report how much is spent on political advertising, and that information is available on the FCC’s site.
All you need to do is enter the call letters for the TV station, then click on the Political Files tab (as seen in the example here for KOLO in Reno.)
As the Newspaper Association of America notes, the big money is spent by Political Action Committees: “These super PACs can spend unlimited amounts of money in support of political candidates or to advance a particular political issue, and they are already reserving broadcast air time in local markets in key states and congressional districts.”
The NAA also notes that radio stations and cable operators aren’t required to post similar information online, but they must make the information available when approached in person at the local station.
There’s not only a trove of political stories to be found in the political-spending files, but also leads for an advertising department trying to boost campaign sales.
In the half-dozen examples in the KOLO file on the 2014 margin tax initiative, the amounts range from about $16,000 to more than $56,000, including the ad agency’s 15 percent commission.