Google, NAB Top Lobbying List

Google’s company-wide effort to control costs hit its lobbying budget, which was down 16 percent in second quarter. But the company still spent more than the other 65 media, marketing, and consumer tech firms tracked by KatyontheHill.

Of the top five, the search giant spent $4.62 million in the second quarter, down from the $5.47 million it spent in Q1 2015.  That topped the National Association of Broadcasters at $4.17 million, AT&T at $4.1 million, Comcast at $3.8 million and Verizon at $3.1 million.

Of the firms with big deals pending before regulators, AT&T was tops at $4.1 million, though down slightly from its $4.4 million in previous quarter.  DirecTV spent $730,000 in Q2, up from $450,000 in Q1.

Charter Communications, which recently announced deals to buy Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks is ramping up. It shelled out $1.1 million in Q2, up substantially from its $640,000 in previous quarter.

Comcast, whose deal with Time Warner Cable was blocked by regulators,  trimmed its budget by 18 percent.

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