ColoradoPols took note of the startling and, for the TV industry, alarming revelation this week via The Know’s media sentinel Joanne Ostrow that some Denver-area newscasts suffered double-digit declines in viewership this month. It’s part of a well-established trend – the Digital Age is redirecting TV’s viewership, as Ostrow points out – but Pols brings up another implication:

The drop in local TV viewership is not a new phenomenon, of course, but the steady rate at which eyeballs are straying from televisions in the Denver/Boulder market (the 17th largest in the country) could remake the landscape of local political advertising at some point in the near future. Television advertising is a top priority for political campaigns, and we wouldn’t expect a significant change in 2018 – big money campaigns, like many organizations, can be slow to react to market changes – but we wouldn’t be surprised if things start to look different in 2020.

Not to mention what that would do to TV’s bottom line around election time.