Regardless of Thursday’s house vote, the debate over repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act could be a boon to local TV for much of 2017, according to ad firm Deep Root Analytics.
“There is going to be an evergreen presence of healthcare advertising at the local level,” managing director Luke Frans said.
Frans said the robust spending on the health care debate shows a "paradigm shift" in public affairs debates. "It's a way for them to really drive information flow on this," he said.
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According to Deep Root's analysis of Kantar Media data, 12 groups have aired ACA-related advertising on local TV, adding up to 14,000 spots across 73 markets. Advocates of repealing the current law have aired more adds than opponents by a two-to-one margin.
Frans estimates advocates on both sides of the issue so far have spent more than $15 million has been on local TV, which is more robust spending than typically seen with public affairs issues.
