Political advertising revenue at local TV companies
Total political advertising revenue for five publicly held local TV station companies (in U.S. dollars)
YearRevenue
2012$573,591,000
2013$49,880,000
2014$696,482,000
2015$124,451,000
2016$842,737,000
2017$111,612,000
2018$1,202,996,000
2019$212,130,000
2020$2,014,282,000

Note: Political advertising revenue includes both local and national political advertising. Meredith was not included because it operates in a different fiscal year from the others. Data for 2012-2016 includes Media General, which was purchased by Nexstar in 2017. Data for 2012-2018 includes Tribune, which was purchased by Nexstar in 2019.

Source: Individual company Securities and Exchange Commission filings for the full year ending Dec. 31. Companies included here are: Gray, Nexstar, Scripps, Sinclair and Tegna.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER