Skip to main content
Obama Dominates Advertising in Key States 2012 ElectionsReleases

Obama Dominates Advertising in Key States

President Holds Advantage in 14 of 15 Top Markets; Only 7.8 Percent of Presidential Ads Positive; FCC electronic disclosure leaves out more than 50% of federal ads (MIDDLETOWN, CT) Oct. 3, 2012 – In the three-week period since the parties’ national conventions, Barack Obama and his party and interest group allies have continued to dominate the airwaves in the battleground presidential states. From September 9 to September 30, Obama held an ad advantage in 14 of the 15 most advertised media markets in the key states of Virginia, Ohio, and Florida (Table 1). In the top 15 markets, pro-Romney advertising…
admin
October 3, 2012
Obama’s ‘Convention Bounce’ May Actually be an Ad Bounce 2012 ElectionsReleases

Obama’s ‘Convention Bounce’ May Actually be an Ad Bounce

Pro-Obama Advertisers Had Over 2 to 1 Advantage in Last Two Weeks; Romney Heavily Reliant on Outside Groups; Negative Ads Up Sharply from 2008 (MIDDLETOWN, CT) Sept. 12, 2012 – Although the Romney campaign has (until recently) dominated the money race, the Obama campaign dominated the broadcast airwaves in the two weeks during the presidential conventions. As Table 1 shows, during the August 26 to September 8 period, Obama and his allies aired 40,000 ads on broadcast and national cable television, the vast majority of which were paid for by the Obama campaign.  By comparison, Romney and his allies aired roughly…
admin
September 12, 2012
Presidential Ads 70 Percent Negative in 2012, Up from 9 Percent in 2008 2012 ElectionsReleases

Presidential Ads 70 Percent Negative in 2012, Up from 9 Percent in 2008

Super PACs Sponsor Bulk of Presidential Ads; Obama, Crossroads GPS Battle in Same States (MIDDLETOWN, CT) May 2, 2012 – The 2012 presidential race is shaping up to be an overwhelmingly negative one, much more negative than the 2008 contest to date. As Table 1 shows, 7 out of 10 of the ads aired in this year’s presidential contests have been negative—that is, they mentioned an opponent. This compares to fewer than 1 in 10 ads aired during the 2008 presidential race up to this point that were negative. Table 1: Tone of Ads in Presidential Race (2008 and 2012)* “One…
admin
May 2, 2012
Media Focus on Campaign Ad Strategy Amplifies Feeling of Negativity Blog

Media Focus on Campaign Ad Strategy Amplifies Feeling of Negativity

Positive advertising matters as much if not more than negativity (MIDDLETOWN, CT) Mar 14, 2012 -- In the midst of perhaps the most negative presidential primary race in recent history, a new Wesleyan Media Project affiliated study (click here for an older local copy) published by Political Research Quarterly suggests that the tone of ads on the airwaves is not the only thing contributing to citizen perceptions of negativity. (more…)
admin
March 14, 2012