How do advertising and revenue streams shape political slants on TV news?
Executive summary
Advertising and shifting revenue models — from traditional local and national TV spot ads and retransmission fees to streaming subscriptions and CTV programmatic buys — reshape what TV news covers and how intensely it covers it: S&P projects U.S. TV station revenue falling 6.9% in 2025 with retran and local ad mixes shifting as sports and ad dollars flow to streaming [1]. Political advertisers still prize TV’s reach (local news and live sports), but evidence on the persuasive power of political ads is mixed — some studies show measurable vote effects while others find small or short-lived impacts [2] [3] [4].
1. Money buys attention: why advertisers steer newsroom priorities
Advertisers and high-margin inventory determine what TV outlets value: local and national spot ads, retransmission fees and subscription income have been core revenues for broadcasters, and S&P’s 2025 analysis flags downward pressure as sports and advertising dollars move to streaming — a direct incentive for stations to prioritize content that keeps those revenue lines (live sports, local news) [1] [5]. News programs remain “a natural fit for political advertisers” because they reach large audiences over time, so political buyers concentrate where audience scale and demographics match targets [6].
2. Local news as the political marketplace
Local TV still draws both Democrats and Republicans and reaches swing voters, which explains why campaigns spend heavily on broadcast inventory; local news is where undecided voters are concentrated and where political ads can define “the reality” of local races [2]. Researchers and practitioners cite broadcast TV’s unique local reach and trust metrics as reasons campaigns allocate large shares of budgets to it — even as digital and CTV grow [2] [6].
3. The ad-driven incentives that bias coverage
When advertising is the dominant revenue stream, outlets face implicit incentives: assign more time and resources to high-audience beats (breaking news, crime, sports) and to sensational stories that boost ratings and ad rates. Available sources document broadcasters’ dependence on audience-attracting local news and live events as revenue anchors, but they do not provide a line-by-line causal map from specific ad dollars to individual editorial choices — that causal link is asserted by industry observers and political operatives who prize TV reach [5] [7] [2]. Available sources do not mention independent, systematic audits tying particular advertisers to specific editorial slants.
4. Political advertising: reach versus persuasion — the contested evidence
Scholarly and institutional studies disagree about how much TV ads move votes. Some randomized trials show “strong but short‑lived effects” or limited persuasive power in presidential contexts [8] [3], while other econometric studies and field research find advertising can have “economically meaningful” impacts on vote shares, especially for down‑ballot contests where voters know less about candidates [4] [9]. Berkeley and Kellogg work also shows modern data-driven testing can magnify the effectiveness of well-funded campaigns [10] [11].
5. New money, new tactics: streaming, CTV and programmatic politics
The migration of viewers and ad budgets toward streaming and CTV reshapes political buys: programmatic CTV now captures a rising share of video ad spend and campaigns are adapting targeting and inventory aggregation strategies accordingly [12] [13]. Industry forecasts show streaming growth and rising ad-supported tiers — meaning political dollars may follow audiences off linear TV, changing which outlets gain political influence [12] [14].
6. Financial stress tightens the feedback loop between revenue and content
S&P and other industry analyses predict continued cord-cutting and pressure on linear ad revenues; broadcasters respond by doubling down on reliable “must‑have” programming (local news, live sports) that command retransmission and ad fees [1] [5] [7]. That financial squeeze reduces newsroom slack and can limit investigative resources, reinforcing coverage that sustains immediate ratings rather than long‑term public‑interest journalism [5]. Available sources do not detail internal newsroom budget allocations at the station level.
7. Multiple pressures, multiple outcomes — balance and limits
While revenue logic explains many editorial choices, audience behavior, regulation, and research complicate the picture. News programs still reach wide audiences [6], but academic results on ad persuasiveness vary; some find little lasting effect from TV ads [3], others document measurable vote-share gains, especially where campaigns deploy sophisticated testing and targeting [10] [4]. That mix means advertising shapes what is covered and who sees it, but it does not uniformly determine electoral outcomes.
Sources cited above document revenue shifts, the persistent appeal of TV for political advertisers, and the divergent academic findings on ad effects [1] [5] [12] [14] [8] [2] [13] [6] [3] [10] [4]. Available sources do not mention specific cases of advertisers directly dictating daily news scripts or systematic audits linking particular advertisers to political slants.