Politics

Nearly 30 percent of ad spending to-date is via streaming(MIDDLETOWN, CT) May 14, 2026 – Spending on campaign advertising in the 2025-2026 midterm election cycle in House, Senate and gubernatorial races has totaled $700 million in just the past two months, thanks, in part, to some extremely competitive primary campaigns (Table 1).  The totals for cycle-to-date spending (as of May 10th) are $1.7 billion. (For comparison, this total is more than double the spending over the same period in 2023-2024 though the specific gubernatorial and congressional races included in both years were different). Groups account for more than 60 percent…

Groups account for over 60 percent of spending(MIDDLETOWN, CT) March 5, 2026 – Spending on political advertising in the 2026 races for U.S. House and U.S. Senate has reached $565 million cycle-to-date, ahead of the first round of party primaries this week. The total – which includes spending from January 1, 2025, through March 1, 2026 – has been boosted by high levels of spending from groups, which have accounted for over 60 percent of total ad spending in both the Senate and the House. Table 1 shows ad spending in the 2025-26 election cycle, with spending broken down across…

Trump and Harris Even in TV Ad Spots This Past Week(MIDDLETOWN, CT) October 31, 2024 – In its final pre-election analysis, the Wesleyan Media Project has examined ad spending for the entire election cycle back to January 2023. We identify nearly $4.5 billion in television and radio advertising in federal and gubernatorial campaigns, which does not include digital spending covered below (Figure 1). Over $3.4 billion of that total was committed to local broadcast or national network advertising. An additional $770 million was committed to television ads on local and national cable networks. “Television ads continue to dominate federal and…

Nearly $300 Million in Presidential Ad Spending Across Platforms Over Past Two Weeks(MIDDLETOWN, CT) October 24, 2024 – 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.  Table 1 shows that pro-Trump ads numbered about 71,000 during the October 7 to October 20 time period, while pro-Harris ads numbered about 61,000.  This is a change from recent weeks, when pro-Harris ads heavily out-weighed pro-Trump spots. However, Harris and her allies are airing advertising on national network and national cable television, which count…