The Federal Communications Commission voted Friday to make political TV ad spending more transparent. 

In a nutshell, major broadcasters will be required to post documents detailing who is purchasing political ads and how much they cost, the Washington Post reports.

ABC News reports the move “will give the public a far more granular picture of where and how political money is being spent.”

How will it work?

“The FCC will host an online database making available information about political ads running on local affiliates of the four major TV networks in the top 50 markets, according to the FCC,” the ABC News story said.

But, the information won’t be available for a while.

“The new rule will require stations to digitize and upload the information, in real time, to the FCC’s website,” the story said. “Network-affiliated stations in the top 50 markets will have six months to comply. For all others, the deadline is 2014.

“Broadcasters opposed the ruling, citing costs of disclosure and competition with other media forms. Television stations under federal law are required to offer political candidates the lowest available advertising rates.”

See the Wall Street Journal’s take on the news. 

Image: flickr espensorvik