Broadcasters Are the Big Winners Again This Election Season

[Commentary] Want to know who the big winners will be next Tuesday on Election Day? That's already been decided. The answer: Your local broadcasters.

It's something most voters don't stop to consider in all the uproar about negative ads, Citizens' United, and the need for campaign finance reform. The people who are making most -- over 90%, by most estimates -- of the money from all the obnoxious and ubiquitous ads this fall have names unfamiliar to most people: Belo, Young Broadcasting, Cox, Fisher Broadcasting, Media General. And big names, of course, like ABC, Tribune, Gannett, NBC Universal. Why don't we see any stories about the broadcasters feasting at the trough each election year? Simple: They own the stations that would air those stories. And they're not about to assign them, either. (We gotcha "public service" right here, pal).