Rank: 4
Clients’ expenditures: $59 million*
Year founded: 2002
Website: munkato.com
Principals:
- Carole Mundy (partner): Oversees the firm’s media planning and placement for multistate and national programs from its Roslyn, N.Y. office.
- Janet Katowitz (partner): A former operative with the Michigan Senate Democratic Caucus, Katowitz manages the firm’s day-to-day operations at its Washington, D.C., office.
Clients:
- Priorities USA Action
- FSA PAC
- LCV Victory Fund
- Progress for Washington
Background:
Founded in 2002, Mundy Katowitz Media (MKM) is a media buying firm that serves Democratic-aligned candidates and indepdent political spending groups. Its top client during the 2012 election was Priorities USA Action, the super PAC supporting President Barack Obama’s re-election.
MKM — run by veteran Democratic operative Janet Katowitz — billed $57 million for advertising time on behalf of Priorities USA Action during the 2012 election cycle. The firm’s other clients included LCV Victory Fund, the super PAC arm of the pro-environment League of Conservation Voters, and FSA PAC, another pro-environment group that placed ads favoring Democrats.
The firm’s other named partner is Carole Mundy, who runs the firm’s New York office.
Media buyers like MKM traditionally collect a commission of up to 15 percent, regardless of their client’s success rate on Election Day.
Katowitz told a group of American University students in 2004 that media buying is “shrouded in mystery” and the reason? “it’s a very lucrative industry.”
Last Updated: Jan. 18, 2013
* Total consists of independent expenditures made to the firm in the 2012 election cycle as reported to the Federal Election Commission.