Abstracts Category : Other

Political Super PAC Spending on Broadcast Television Following Citizens United

by Alice C Morrison-Moncure

This thesis investigates a television industry claim that the Citizens United Supreme Court decision of 2010 would lead to an influx of political revenue for broadcast television stations, specifically from Super PACs that were granted the right to receive unlimited donations from people and corporations alike. The researcher tested two hypotheses: that increased Super PAC spending would cause a decrease in spending by campaigns, and that increased Super PAC spending would increase TV stations' political ad revenue from presidential and gubernatorial races. These were tested using quantitative analysis, gathering and drawing inferences from raw revenue data from broadcast television stations in three DMAs. Analysis of this raw data spanning four years and four general election cycles revealed that candidate spending was positively related to Super PAC spending between the presidential elections of 2012 and 2016, disproving the first hypothesis. Findings pertaining to the second hypothesis were inconclusive. M.S., Television Management Drexel University, 2017Advisors/Committee Members: Salas, Philip W., Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design.