• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, November 2, 2010

Not including political advertising, Fisher Communications, which operates the ABC stations in Seattle and Portland, saw net TV ad revenues increase 17% for the July-September quarter. But its two stations in Washington State likely benefited from candidate dollars, helping total net TV ad revenues jump by 38% to $25.6 million.

In Washington, where Fisher has the CBS affiliate in Yakima, incumbent Sen. Patty Murray has been spending freely as she tries to hold off a robust challenge. Also, Fisher's CBS affiliate in Bakersfield, Calif. was positioned to gain from the seemingly endless spending of California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman.

Political dollars for the company came in at 18% of TV net ad dollars, which were $4.7 million in the third quarter.

Outside political, Fisher posted a 17% gain in local and national ad dollars. A 61% jump in the auto category helped propel the increase.

In the Internet arena -- where last year Fisher debuted some 100 hyper-local neighborhood sites, attracting more than 100 local advertisers -- net revenue was up 89% to close to $924,000.

The company, which also operates radio stations, swung to an overall profit of $3.3 million in the quarter after a $4 million loss a year ago.