Fueled by political advertising, local television advertising revenue rose 10.4 percent in the third quarter of 2006 compared with a year ago, according to an analysis of estimates from TNS Media Intelligence released by the Television Bureau of Advertising.

The government and organizations category was up 182.1 percent from 2005, according to the study released Thursday.

“While the increase in political dollars has received much attention in the media, it should be noted that local broadcast television posted gains in many large ad categories,” said Susan Cuccinello, senior VP for research at the Television Bureau of Advertising.

For example, automotive rose 9.7 percent, telecommunications surged 30.2 percent, financial was up 4.3 percent, and schools, colleges and camps increased 18.8 percent.

The biggest increase in spending among the top 10 local broadcast advertisers was a 133.5 percent jump posted by AT&T.

(Editor: Baumann)