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WMP Issue Spotlight
2018 ElectionsReleases

Advertising Issue Spotlight (9/1/18 – 9/30/18)

(MIDDLETOWN, CT) October 4, 2018 - The Wesleyan Media Project is releasing its third post in a series of regularly updated overviews of issue mentions in federal races by state. Below we show the number of ads that aired in House and Senate races in each state from September 1, 2018, to September 30, 2018. Read our other Issue Spotlights: Issue Spotlight (1/1/2017 - 7/31/2018) Issue Spotlight (8/1/2018 - 8/31/2018) We break down the percentage of ads mentioning six key issues tracked by the WMP. Healthcare continues to dominate as the proportion of ad airings referencing the topic rose from…
Wesleyan Media Project
October 4, 2018
AZ Senator Krysten Sinema speaking at an event
2018 ElectionsReleases

Outside Group Ads Up 85% in Federal Races

Photo Gage Skidmore/Flickr Over 2.2 Million Ads Aired This Cycle; Post-Labor Day Period Slightly Less Negative than 2014 (MIDDLETOWN, CT) September 20, 2018 - In the two weeks following Labor Day – traditionally the start of the general election campaign – the volume of television advertising in 2018 was well above the volume in 2014, especially in federal races, as detailed by a new report released by the Wesleyan Media Project. Nearly 280,000 broadcast television ads aired in federal and gubernatorial races in the two weeks post-Labor Day (9/4-9/17) in 2018, an increase of 33 percent over the same dates…
Wesleyan Media Project
September 20, 2018
Pile of one hundred dollar bills
2018 ElectionsReleases

Digital Spending in Senate Races Varies

O’Rourke campaign largest digital spender by far; At least $4 million on digital ad spending in tight Senate races (MIDDLETOWN, CT) September 13, 2018 - Though campaigns still spend the majority of their ad dollars on television advertising, digital advertising has become an increasingly important component of campaigns’ ad strategies. The Wesleyan Media Project’s latest analysis compares television ad spending with digital ad spending in 14 of the most competitive U.S. Senate races, finding at least $4 million in spending on digital advertising since the end of May. Table 1 shows estimated spending by the Democratic and Republican nominee in…
Wesleyan Media Project
September 13, 2018
Donald Trump pointing with a crowd of people behind him
2018 ElectionsReleases

Republicans – Men and Women – Continue to Embrace Trump in Their Ads

Photo Gage Skidmore/Flickr Women candidates more positive; Democratic women laser focused on health (MIDDLETOWN, CT) September 13, 2018 - Pro-Trump messaging in political ads continued through August. Almost 36,000 ad airings in U.S. House and U.S. Senate races mentioned Donald Trump in a positive fashion between August 1 and September 3, which is 13.4 percent of all ad airings in those races. By contrast, 4.8 percent of ads mention Trump in a negative light (Table 1). As Figure 1 shows, this embrace of Trump is unlike past midterms. Trump has seen a greater percentage of positive mentions than any other…
Wesleyan Media Project
September 13, 2018