It’s officially a political year in Arizona and that means unique opportunity for Arizona broadcasters to go after their fair share of new revenue. As we shared with you in the fall, Arizona is forecast to be one of the top 5 in total political ad expenditures with an estimated $525 million. Here are some helpful thoughts:

1. PLANNING: The year ahead brings an Arizona Governor’s race, a US Senate race, all of our U.S. Congressional seats, and whatever issues/local races come up. Of special note, the US House races remain a wild card across Arizona since so many of the seats have just finished going through a “redistricting” process to reflect the results of the 2020 census.
    
2. LUR DATES: Looking ahead to TV and radio ad impacts, here are your calendar LUR dates. The primary election lowest unit rate period opens on June 18, 2022 for an August 2, 2022 primary election. The general election lowest unit rate period opens on September 9, 2022 for a November 8, 2022 general election.
    
3. FORMS: We’re sharing the most updated PB-19 forms for traditional FCC political file uploading (one for candidate ads and one for noncandidate ads like PACs). These forms factor in all the current FCC rules. The ABA pays for these forms from the NAB on your behalf. 
    

NEW LAW: In addition to the normal rules of the road, Arizona has passed a new law that affects political campaign contribution transparency. As we first detailed last summer, this law has implications for political ads on TV and radio stations. While the main responsibility falls upon the ad placer, now is the time to make sure you are working this into your SOP for ad review. Read the details.