Election autumn is good business: New A’s broadcasters book their best quarter as campaign ads fill every break
New A 1, Madison Broadcasting and the national networks all closed September ahead. Whatever New A thinks of the governor’s race, its newsrooms are doing fine.
The governor’s race has been expensive for the candidates and very good for the people who sell them airtime. New A 1, Madison Broadcasting — owner of PIX 11 Long Island — and the national networks all reported their strongest quarter of the year on Friday, led by political advertising that has filled almost every commercial break since Labor Day.
New A 1 sold out its evening borough reports for October two weeks ago and has added a late block. Madison Broadcasting said political spots now make up a third of the Long Island station’s revenue, most of it bought by campaigns arguing about the toll. CNN and FOX News, whose New A audiences peak on debate and election nights, both said their local advertising was up on last year.
On the NASE, NA1 and MDSN led the Media sector higher, and CNN and FOXN rose alongside them. Traders note that the two national networks trade on businesses far larger than anything a New A campaign can buy, and move accordingly — gently. The exchange treats them as blue chips: no headline in New A can push them far from their fundamentals.
City Hall’s film and broadcast office said it issued a record number of location permits in September, most of them for campaign shoots on the New BK Bridge and in Times Square, and asked crews to stop filming in front of City Hall’s front door.
The debate, if the campaigns ever agree to one, will be the biggest night of the year for whichever channel carries it.
Market impact
NASE- NA1New A 1+2.5%33.26 -0.29%
- MDSNMadison Broadcasting+2%91.94 -0.81%
- CNNCNN+1%25.67 +1.79%
- FOXNFOX News+1%56.70 +0.66%
The story’s move on each stock. The NASE prices it in fast — about 74% of it within the hour of publication. 40% of the shock is permanent; the other 60% fades with a 10-day half-life, so 70% of the move is still in the price 10 days later. Right: the price now and today’s change.
Approval impact
Points- Zohran MamdaniParodyMayor of New A City · Democrat+0.5 pts60% approve now
Approval points this story moved, applied when it ran and fading over the following weeks. Ratings update with every story — the full board is on Elections.
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