Capitol Alert: Sacramento TV one of country's busiest markets for political ads

Capitol Alert

The latest on California politics and government

October 17, 2012

Sacramento TV one of country's busiest markets for political ads

Feel like your commercial breaks are filled with campaign spots for candidates and ballot measures?

They probably are.

TV watchers in the Sacramento media market are getting pounded with campaign spots at levels close to those seen in some of the country's top swing states for the presidential election.

The region's media market currently ranks 8th in the nation for political ad buys and related filings disclosed in the last week, according to data collected by the Sunlight Foundation's Political Ad Sleuth site.

Unlike the filings for the other markets rounding out the top eight for federal ad action, none of the 116 ad buys currently reported for Sacramento's media market target the presidential race.

Instead, viewers are hearing arguments for and against candidates running in competitive races for congressional seats. The region's media market reaches parts of four high-profile House races, including the 7th Congressional District battle between Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Gold River, and Elk Grove Democrat Ami Bera. Other ad buys tracked by the site but not included in the ranking include spots for statewide propositions and state legislative contests.

The ad action here hasn't been limited to the last week. Sacramento's market is the country's 9th busiest heading into the general election. More than 1,000 ad buys or amendment filings have been reported by the four TV stations tracked by the site since August 1, the date the Federal Communications Commission's new disclosure rules for large media markets went into effect.

The Sunlight Foundation's collection of ad filings for Sacramento and other top media markets, which is updated in real time, can be found here.

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