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Microphones and American flag2022 ElectionsBlogReleasesYear-End Summaries

New Studies Published on Television and Digital Advertising in the 2022 Midterms

(MIDDLETOWN, CT) February 22, 2023 – New research published by the Wesleyan Media Project provides two summaries of political advertising activity in the 2022 midterms. The two pieces appear in the latest issue of The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics and are both freely available through open access. The first examines advertising trends on television across all sponsors (open access link) while the second hones in on digital activity on Meta (including Facebook and Instagram) and Google (including YouTube, display and search) by federal candidates (open access link).   Key takeaways from the publications are as…
Wesleyan Media Project
February 22, 2023
WMP Issue Spotlight2022 ElectionsReleases

Advertising Issue Spotlight (9/5/22 – 11/08/22)

(MIDDLETOWN, CT) February 21, 2023 – The Wesleyan Media Project is releasing the final post in a series of regularly updated overviews of issue mentions in federal races by state. Below we show the percentage of ads mentioning seven key issues tracked by the WMP (abortion, energy/environment, guns, health care, immigration, inflation, public safety). Individual graphs by state can be seen by clicking on any state. The post covers ads from all sponsors (candidates, parties, and outside groups) aired on broadcast TV in U.S. House and U.S. Senate races from September 5, 2022 to November 8, 2022. Note that percentages…
Wesleyan Media Project
February 21, 2023
Greg Abbott's image on a screen2022 ElectionsReleases

4.3M TV Ads with Spending Nearing $3B

Photo Gage Skidmore/flickr Pro-Republican Outside Groups Airing More Ads than Republican Candidates(MIDDLETOWN, CT) November 3, 2022 – An estimated $2.71 billion has been spent in federal and gubernatorial races on broadcast television advertising this election cycle, according to a new analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project.  That represents 4.3 million ad airings so far cycle-to-date (between January 6, 2021, and October 30, 2022), an increase of 10 percent over the same period in the 2018 midterms. Nearly a third (29.9 percent) of all pro-Democratic and pro-Republican ads were sponsored by groups.  These totals include any ads aired in congressional and…
Wesleyan Media Project
November 3, 2022
WMP Issue Spotlight2022 ElectionsReleases

Advertising Issue Spotlight (10/1/22 – 10/31/22)

(MIDDLETOWN, CT) November 2, 2022 – The Wesleyan Media Project is releasing the third post in a series of regularly updated overviews of issue mentions in federal races by state. Below we show the percentage of ads mentioning seven key issues tracked by the WMP (abortion, energy/environment, guns, health care, immigration, inflation, public safety). The post covers ads from all sponsors (candidates, parties, and outside groups) aired on broadcast TV in U.S. House and U.S. Senate races from October 1, 2022 to October 31, 2022. Note that percentages across the columns may total more than 100 percent because ads often…
Wesleyan Media Project
November 2, 2022
Mark Kelly speaking to audience2022 ElectionsReleases

Congressional Leadership Fund Targets 42 House Races

Photo Gage Skidmore/flickr Dem Ad Volume Higher Overall; Record Breaking Number of Federal Ads by Groups(MIDDLETOWN, CT) October 20, 2022 – Outside group advertising on television in federal races is breaking records, according to a new analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project. In just the last two weeks alone, the Republican super PAC, Congressional Leadership Fund, has targeted ads in 42 different U.S. House races, while the Democratic super PAC, House Majority PAC, has been active in 27. Table 1 shows the groups that have sponsored the most ads in the past two weeks and the races in which they…
Wesleyan Media Project
October 20, 2022
Sunset behind Capitol2022 ElectionsReleases

Democrats Out-Pacing GOP in Senate Races

Groups are bolstering Republicans in Senate campaigns; Dems also have ad advantages in many House Races(MIDDLETOWN, CT) October 6, 2022 – Democrats are out-airing their Republican opponents in nine of the top 10 Senates races, according to a new report from the Wesleyan Media Project.  While the air war is very balanced in the Wisconsin Senate race, as shown in Table 1, Democratic ad advantages are over 1,000 spots in seven contests, including Georgia, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Outside groups are responsible for one-third to nearly one-half of the broadcast spots on television in the last two weeks,…
Wesleyan Media Project
October 6, 2022