TV stations bemoan end of campaign ads

It's a dark day for television. The conclusion of the US election means the end of a bounty of political advertising nationwide for television stations, which now have few new business prospects ahead. Massachusetts and New Hampshire TV stations received about $23 million this year in political advertising, according to the advertising tracker TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG. The presidential election alone injected $6.5 million into those two New England states during the last five months, the company said. But these funds don't offset a drop in general advertising dollars, said Gary Belis, spokesman for the nonprofit Television Bureau of Advertising. Even-numbered years are generally "fat" times for television, and odd-numbered ones lean, he said. But the slowing economy - particularly in auto sales - already has reduced advertising revenues.