Political Ad Market: From Feast to Famine

In this year of record political advertising spending, Little Rock (DMA 56) has been mostly bypassed and forgotten by candidates and their supporters. The presidential candidates are ignoring Arkansas because Republican challenger Mitt Romney has a lock on its six electoral votes, and there are no major state offices up for grabs. Even the open seat of retiring Rep. Mike Ross (D) in the southern part of the state hasn’t produced much ad spending, with the GOP candidate seen as having an insurmountable lead and the Democrat unable to raise much money. The state’s three other Republican incumbents in the House are breezing to re-election. But that’s how it goes with political advertising every even-numbered year. Some markets — like Little Rock — are virtually shut out, and some in presidential swing states with closely contested gubernatorial or U.S. Senate races and possibly local elections — like Roanoke-Lynchburg (VA) (DMA 68) — have trouble coping with the enormous demand for time.