There’s a storm brewing that will bring a windfall to local broadcasters. That’s the forecast from Sinclair EVP Steven Marks, who suggested during the station group’s fourth-quarter call with analysts today that Sinclair is expecting political spending to rain dollars on TV stations in 2020.

TVNewsCheck quotes Marks saying: “Every other day there is somebody joining the race. It really bodes well for local broadcasters. There is going to be quite a robust fourth quarter [this year] and in 2020 we are not going to be able to get out of the way of the money. It’s going to be literally hand over fist.”

Marks added: “You just look what goes on every day. [Watching politics has] become the best TV show on the planet.”

TVNewsCheck adds: “He said there are ‘strong indications’ that the 2020 spending will exceed the group’s record take in 2012 ($266 million) and far surpass that of 2014 ($155 million), 2016 ($206 million) and 2018 ($255 million). All the number are pro forma for comparison.”

Sinclair appears to be in a particularly solid position to cash in on political spending. The report cites Sinclair CFO Lucy Rutishauser saying the group may pick up as much as $32 million this year ahead of the early 2020 primaries.

Said Rutishauser: “Remember, we are in all of the big swing states in a big way as well as we’re in a lot of state capitals.”