In the month leading up to the midterm elections, researchers at the University of Wisconsin’s NewsLab tracked evening and late-night newscasts on local TV stations in five Midwestern states.
The good news? The average 30-minute newscast devoted almost as much time — one minute, 43 seconds — to election news as it did to “teasers, bumpers and intros.” The not-so-good news? Every minute of election news was matched by about two-and-half minutes of political advertising — and by about four minutes of sports and weather.
