(MIDDLETOWN, CT) June 5, 2024 – The Wesleyan Media Project is releasing the first 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 March 6, 2024 to May 31, 2024. Note that percentages across the columns may total more than 100 percent because ads often…

Biden Campaign Spends Heavily on Digital Ads(MIDDLETOWN, CT) May 31, 2024 – 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.  The analysis looks at spending totals on Facebook (which includes Instagram) and Google (including search, third party, and YouTube) by President Biden and former President Trump, along with their supportive outside groups.  Television accounts for over $24 million in…

Trump Backed by Groups but is Still Out-Aired 2:1(MIDDLETOWN, CT) May 23, 2024 – 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.  The bulk of that money has come from the Biden campaign, with $13.6 million in ad spending, backed by another $2.9 million in spending by pro-Biden groups.  The Trump campaign has yet to spend a penny on broadcast or national cable television advertising during the general election period…

Record-Breaking Volume of Congressional Campaign Ads on TV, an Increase of 28% Over 2022(MIDDLETOWN, CT) March 14, 2024 – 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. As of March 10, $163 million had been spent this election cycle on broadcast television advertising in House and Senate races, amounting to over 300,000 ad airings (Table 1), which is 28% more airings than the 2022 campaign at this point and more than 50,000 airings more…

Photo Gage Skidmore/flickr GOP candidates get significant backing from super PACs(MIDDLETOWN, CT) January 11, 2024 – 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. Trump’s campaign, along with the Make America Great Again super PAC, have spent about $10 million on the airwaves in Iowa (Table 1) for roughly 22,000 ad airings, just shy of the number of pro-Haley airings. Another 4,800 airings (or about $4.7 million) in pro-Trump ads have aired in New Hampshire, but the…