The Pennsylvania Lottery Has Moved to Channel 29

The Lottery had aired on Channel 6 for decades. Getting the lottery drawing should translate to more Pennsylvania Lottery ads on Fox 29.

The Pennsylvania Lottery has been airing a televised drawing since 1977. In Philadelphia, the sing-songy “Penn-syl-van-ia Lot-ter-ry!” jingle and nightly drawing has been airing before Jeopardy! for decades.

No more. Effective today, the televised lottery drawing has moved to Fox 29.

Channel 6 has had the lottery since for at least 30 years (the above is a 1985 Lottery broadcast on WPVI). The nightly drawing airs at 6:59 p.m., and includes the daily Pick 3, 4 and 5 numbers, as well as Cash 5 and other state-run gambling games.

Fox 29 getting the lottery is a big deal. The Pennsylvania Lottery spends more money on advertising than any other state agency. The station that airs the lottery’s nightly drawing gets a huge chunk — more than 70 percent — of the lottery’s ad spending.

According to third-party monitoring provided to Philadelphia magazine, the Pennsylvania Lottery spent $4.5 million on broadcast TV in the Philadelphia area last year. WPVI (Channel 6) got $3.4 million of that total. The multi-state lotto commission spent another $1 million; WPVI got $760,000 of it. (Because of the way they’re monitored, these numbers may be off a bit; the percentages are indicative, however.)

Fox recently changed its weeknight TV lineup, adding syndicated gossip show Dish Nation at 7 p.m. That show airs commentary on pop culture from radio DJs from around the country.

Fox 29 will also have the Philadelphia broadcasts of Mega Millions and Powerball, multi-state lottery games.