We’ve already seen a plethora of articles in television industry trade publications and in the general press about the political advertising TV stations are likely to receive this year.

Recently, I submitted a guest column for industry publication Television Business Report (TVBR) on the opportunity for station owners to capitalize on political advertising for their websites.

Yes, websites can see meaningful political ad dollars this season. A Topix/Equation Research survey found the Internet is second only to TV as a primary source of political information. Borrell Associates projects online outlets will receive as much as $160 million from campaigns and political action committees (PACs) this season. Advertising Age cited estimates that campaigns were poised to spend as much as 10 percent of their total ad budgets on digital buys– up from 5 percent for 2010 congressional races.

It will be a drop in the bucket compared to the OTA revenues, but it could be a healthy start.

Google will get its usual disproportionate piece of those ad budgets. But committed voters probably engage with more than the occasional search; they might spend serious time on a site they can trust for in-depth local political news and information.

Stations that devote resources to being TV news leaders within their markets also earn the position of local digital-news leaders. And as the old saying (typically attributed to late House Speaker “Tip” O’Neill) goes, “All politics is local.”

If campaigns and PACs are going to spend money on digital advertising, why shouldn’t it be on those local websites that lead the way in providing local and regional political news & information?

Here’s my TVBR column. If you get a chance to read it, I’d love your feedback at varner@ibsys.com.

Reed Varner

Vice President, Digital Agency

Internet Broadcasting