New numbers for political ads released Wednesday show the Quad Cities is 7th in nation for the amount of viewers the ads reach. The ranking means both presidential candidates are spending big bucks to win your vote.
National political ad figures for this week show the Obama campaign spent $10-million, the Romney campaign $8.5-million and Super PACs spent a total of $12.5 million. A huge chunk of the $31-million spent this week was here in the Quad Cities.
Political ads are everywhere. At TV6 they are in almost every commercial break.
"It's crazy, we never thought it was going to be like this," says KWQC TV6 General Manager Ken Freedman.
Campaigns and Super PACs have chosen to run their ads in the Quad Cities, because so many people are watching them.
"They tend to turn to stations like KWQC in greater numbers," adds Freedman, "The politicians know that and they want to be on us."
Rankings released by SMG-Delta place the Quad Cities 7th in the nation for the reach that the political ads are having. The top ten are in the swing states of Iowa, Ohio, Colorado and Virginia.
"These campaigns have unbelievable resources and finances. What's remarkable is they are choosing to spend the vast majority of their dollars on over the air television," says Freedman.
However, there are some drawbacks to having so many political ads on the air.
"I think they're very negative," says Lillian Slater.
"I'm tired of them," adds Ludwig George Turnquist.
Political ads have been playing in the area for months. The number of ads on the air really started to grow in May.
"I believe that it's just bashing, that they are not concerned with the common people," adds Slater.
"Usually when they come on I don't pay any attention to them anymore," says Turnquist.
Some people say they understand why the campaigns and Super PACs are picking places like the Quad Cities to run ads.
"The Quad Cities is a very viable business area, it has all kinds of industry and all kinds of jobs," says Richard Klatt.
