TV Companies Still Expect Avalanche of Political Ads

The Deal: Partisan hostility has been a boon for broadcasters such as Entravision, E.W. Scripps, Gannett, Gray, Media General, Nexstar, Sinclair, Tribune Media and Univision. While TV broadcasters have faced challenges from online advertising and new models for distributing video, political ad spending — especially in presidential election cycles — has been impervious to such disruption. “It defies gravity,” said Moody’s Investors Service analyst Carl Salas. “It’s been growing 9% to low-double digit percentages on average over the last several election cycles.”