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Yes.
While political candidates must be legally offered lower TV ad rates, third parties like political action committees often pay higher market-based prices for the same time slots.
Under Federal Communications Commission rules, broadcast stations cannot charge candidates more than their “lowest unit,” or the amount that their “best commercial customer” has paid for ads of the same class, length and time of day. These rules only apply within the 45 days before a primary and 60 days before a general election.
Resulting from a small provision in the 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act, the rules aim to ensure candidates are not disadvantaged by “unfairly high advertising rates during the ends of a campaign or rates that differ from their opponents.” Today, the 50-year-old law means that third parties can pay up to two or three times more for ads than candidates.
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Sources
Federal Communications Commission FCC Political Programming Rules
New Republic Why Candidates Get More Bang for Their Buck Than Super PACs—Starting Now
