• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, August 8, 2007

Cable operator Mediacom is hoping that politicians take advantage of its interactive advertising capabilities later this year as the presidential campaign heats up.

The MSO has been testing interactive ads for about 10 months. It is looking for candidates to purchase spots prompting consumers to click over to a dedicated VOD channel with the politicians' bios or messages, its CEO said Tuesday.

The operator runs systems in Iowa, site of the key early-January caucus--giving it a market where it might make a strong case to campaigns to use the VOD connection.

Going forward, on a conference call to announce second-quarter results, CEO Rocco Commisso said interactive advertising holds a "significant upside."

Also, Mediacom--the eighth-largest MSO with some 1.4 million subscribers, according to the NCTA--said ad sales of local avails through its OnMedia division were flat in the quarter. The company attributed that to troubles in the automotive and housing categories.

Revenues increased 7.4% to $324.7 million in the quarter, although the company posted a net loss of $6.6 million.

Basic subscriber levels fell by 18,000 versus the same period a year ago, although overall TV revenues increased 1.6%. The company said it's facing competition from Verizon's telco TV offering in Delaware and California, where it has lost some 8,000 subscribers. It was unclear how many total customers it has in the state, although Commisso said the losses to the telco have "stabilized."