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Harris TV Ads Plummet Before Rebounding

(10/24/24) During the past two weeks, pro-Trump ads outnumbered pro-Harris ads on broadcast television by about 10,000 airings, according to a new report from the Wesleyan Media Project.

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Trump Narrows Harris’ Ad Advantage in Past Week

(10/10/2) – According to a new report from the Wesleyan Media Project, about 71,000 pro-Harris ads have run on broadcast television over the past two weeks, substantially more than the 51,000 pro-Trump ads that have run during the same time period. But pro-Trump advertisers have been narrowing that gap in recent days. Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

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Advertising Issue Spotlight (9/1/24 – 9/30/24)

(10/3/2024) The Wesleyan Media Project is releasing the third post in a series of regularly updated overviews of issue mentions in federal races by state.

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Pro-Trump TV Ads Plummet in Past Two Weeks as Harris Expands Ad Advantage Across Platforms

(9/26/24) According to a new analysis from the Wesleyan Media Project that focuses on ad spending over the last two weeks, Vice President Kamala Harris maintains a significant advertising advantage over Donald Trump thanks largely to a decline in pro-Trump advertising on television in the past 2 weeks.

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Presidential Campaign Turns to Economic Issues By Wesleyan Media Project

(9/12/24) The issue discussion in the presidential race has shifted to a focus on the economy, according to a new report from the Wesleyan Media Project that analyzes issue mentions in broadcast ads.

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Trump and Allies Launch Barrage of Negative Ads

(8/29/24) In recent weeks, former President Donald Trump and his interest group allies have ramped up their spending on broadcast television ads, on many days out-advertising Kamala Harris and her interest group allies.
Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

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Trump Out-Airing Harris in Early Restart of General Election

(8/15/24) The general election is in full swing, as both pro-Harris and pro-Trump ads are on the air in battleground states.
Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

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Biden campaign TV ad spending steady since debate; pro-Biden group spending drops

(7/16/24) The Biden campaign maintained a relatively steady level of television ad spending in the two weeks following the debate (ending July 10), but pro-Biden group spending declined, according to an analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project.

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Digital Ad Spending Nearly Even with TV in Presidential General Election

(5/31/24) Since March 6, spending in the general election phase of the presidential race has been almost evenly split between television ads on local broadcast and national cable television and spending on digital ads on the Meta and Google platforms, according to a new analysis from the Wesleyan Media Project.

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Biden on TV in Key States, While Trump is Off-Air

(5/23/24) Advertising for the presidential general election has started, with about $25 million spent to-date on local broadcast and national television since March 6, the day both Joe Biden and Donald Trump had effectively secured their respective parties’ nominations.

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Senate, House Race TV Advertising Spike as Presidential Ads Wane

(3/14/24) Advertising in the presidential race has turned to a trickle as Joe Biden and Donald Trump have all-but-secured their parties’ nominations for president, but House and Senate races have seen record volumes of advertising.

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Advertising in Presidential Race Takes a Nosedive after New Hampshire

(2/16/24) The volume of television advertising in the 2024 presidential race has fallen dramatically since the January 23 New Hampshire primary. In the weeks since New Hampshire, candidates and the groups and parties supporting them have spent only $2.6 million on under 8,000 ad airings on broadcast television stations.

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Heavy Spending by GOP in Iowa, including Trump

(1/11/24) Donald Trump may not be at the Republican presidential debates, but he is not conceding the airwaves in Iowa or New Hampshire, a new analysis from the Wesleyan Media Project shows.

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Political Advertising in Presidential Elections: Assessing the Battleground

(10/25/23) Are digital ads squeezing out the appetite for television ads? Is the battleground more narrow today than in prior years, perhaps shrinking as the country has polarized politically?

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

(2/22/2023) New research published by the Wesleyan Media Project provides two summaries of political advertising activity in the 2022 midterms.

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4.3M TV Ads with Spending Nearing $3B

(11/3/22) 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. Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

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

(11/2/2022) October overview of issue mentions in federal races by state.

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Congressional Leadership Fund Targets 42 House Races

(10/20/22) Outside group advertising on television in federal races is breaking records, according to a new analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project. Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

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Democrats Out-Pacing GOP in Senate Races

(10/6/22) 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.

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DeSantis Dominates FL Gov Advertising

(9/22/22) As the traditional general election period of the 2022 midterms kicks into gear, Republican incumbent Ron DeSantis has a commanding lead over his Democratic opponent, Charlie Crist, in both television ads aired and online ad spending, according to a new report from the Wesleyan Media Project.
Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

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Democrats Spend Heavily in Senate Races

(9/8/22) Democratic candidates are spending heavily on broadcast television advertising in U.S. Senate races, according to a new report from the Wesleyan Media Project.

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Two Million TV Ads So Far in the 2022 Midterm Elections

(8/11/22) Over two million ads (at a cost of nearly one billion dollars) have aired on broadcast television in federal and gubernatorial races across the country between January 6, 2021, and August 7, 2022, according to a new report by the Wesleyan Media Project.
Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

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2022 Midterm TV Ad Volume Off to a Record Start

(6/23/22) Driven by competitive primaries for U.S. Senate seats and gubernatorial races, the volume of advertising on television so far in the 2022 midterms is shattering records, according to a new report by the Wesleyan Media Project.
Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

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Abortion Mentions Climb After SCOTUS Draft Opinion

(5/12/22) WMP finds mentions of abortion in televised political advertising have risen in the wake of the leaked draft of the Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade.
Photo: GBlakeley/iStock

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Year End Summaries

Summary posts giving an overview of campaign ads for each election cycle going back to 2010.

View Year End Summaries  

Research

Find publications by the Wesleyan Media Project, WMP members, or affiliated institutions.

View WMP Research  

Delta Lab

Computational analysis of political advertising and media with student learning as a central focus.

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Since its founding in 2010, the Wesleyan Media Project (WMP) has become the “go to” source for real-time, non-partisan information on the volume, spending, sponsorship and content of political advertising across the United States.

Our goals are to track all election-related advertising by source (group, corporation, union, party, or candidate) and to provide comparative analysis enhancing the ability of journalists, citizens and scholars to hold governments and special interests accountable.

See our latest report here, or read our year-end summaries of campaign advertising in the 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020 elections.

Learn More About Us  

WMP in the News

The Hill – Americans are seeing more congressional political ads than ever before: Report, 3/15/24

Marketplace – Biden’s budget and GOP response offer up a sneak preview of next year’s campaign issues, 3/10/23

CBS News – Winning the Votes of Suburban Women in Battleground States, 10/18/20

Time – In the Fight for Pennsylvania, Donald Trump Comes Up Short on Empathy and Resources, 10/28/20

PBS Newshour – Unprecedented Spending for 2020 Political Ads, 10/31/2020