The debate over Referendums C and D is getting pretty lucrative for Colorado TV stations, which are reporting more than $1 million in campaign-ad buys.
Some stations, saying they don’t have to report buys for state-issue campaigns, are not releasing their figures.
A year after the Bush-Kerry presidential race heated up in Colorado, resulting in an unanticipated windfall for TV stations in the state, their sales departments again are loving politics.
The fight over the November proposal to suspend tax refunds under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights is not beating out automobiles, the main staple of TV advertising. But it’s giving that industry a run for its money, said Jim Sieke, the regional sales manager for Denver 7 who oversees political advertising.
“It’s a lot more than we expected,” he said. “It’s technically an ‘off’ political year, with no federal candidates running, but this Referendum C and D has really been much bigger than a normal ballot issue.”
And Sieke likes what he hears from buyers with both campaigns – that campaign organizers think they are in a very close race to election day.
“We like that,” he said. “All the more likely they’re going to spend a little more money to put them over the top. Each side is figuring, ‘Hey, if I just buy one more spot … .”‘
The ballot questions’ proponents so far have spent $459,700 at Denver 7 alone, while three opposition groups have made a combined buy worth $367,400, according to the station’s records.
Denver’s Channel 4 has sold a combined $785,875 in related advertising so far this fall. That is the amount reported before discounts for time bought through agencies, according to the station. (The Denver 7 figures are for that station’s net revenue after a similar discount.)
Officials at KUSA-Channel 9 and Fox 31 have chosen not to report their political sales this season.
At the Colorado Springs ABC affiliate, KRDO-Channel 13, political advertising also is on the rise after exceeding expectations last year, general manager Neil Klockziem said.
KRDO has sold $240,385 in ads to the Vote Yes on C&D committee, according to the station’s records. Committees fighting the referendums have bought a combined $81,380 in ads from that station.
The 2004 presidential campaign brought unexpected revenues when the campaigns for John Kerry and President Bush ramped up their Colorado investment in the home stretch, Klockziem said.
In Grand Junction, the Vote Yes on C&D campaign has signed contracts with three stations for $166,600. The committees against the referendums have spent $89,330 there.
Dave Pearson, campaign manager for the “vote no” committee sponsored by the Colorado Club for Growth, said his side’s goal is to keep up with the better- funded Vote Yes committee, which enjoys wide support from businesses.
Though the Vote Yes campaign has bought some ads into November, the Club for Growth campaign committee is going week by week, Pearson said.
“We’re only buying as we go, because that’s how we’re raising money,” he said.
Vote Yes campaign spokeswoman Katy Atkinson said she believes the opposition coalition is better funded than its leaders let on. Her campaign has gathered information from stations across the state showing nearly $1.2 million in “vote no” ad buys, she said. Opposition organizer and House Republican Minority Leader Joe Stengel said he didn’t know if that was an accurate number.
Atkinson’s campaign has signed $2 million in ad contracts, she said.
“We pretty much have bought the time we’re going to be buying,” she said. “Almost every dollar that we have in the bank right now is budgeted.”
Staff writer Nancy Lofholm and contributor Steven Saint contributed to this report.
Staff writer Jim Hughes can be reached at 303-820-1244 or jhughes@denverpost.com.
