A California federal appeals court has essentially endorsed political ads on public broadcast stations.

Via the New York Times Media Decoder blog:

Ruling Clears Way for Political Ads on Public Stations

Reversing a decades-old rule, a federal appeals court said on Thursday that public television and radio stations could not be prohibited from broadcasting paid political advertisements.

The ruling could prompt some noncommercial stations to start including ads from candidates and political action committees on their broadcasts, just as commercial stations do. Hundreds of millions of dollars are expected to be spent on advertising in the prelude to the elections this fall.

The ruling “startled the television  industry,” the Times reported, “in part because the case before a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit initially involved ads bought by corporations, not candidates.”

But it’s open season now, so look for Barack Obama Big-Birding Sesame Street, and Mitt Romney marketing himself on Marketplace.

Given public broadcasting’s Little Orphan Annex status, CPB will soon equal Corporation for Political Broadcasting.