(MIDDLETOWN, CT) January 7, 2026 – The Wesleyan Media Project is releasing the first Advertising Tone Spotlight. Below, we show the count of tone by sponsor during the general election period. This post covers tone by adtype (candidates, parties, issue-election, and private citizens) aired on broadcast TV in U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and Presidential races from September 1, 2024, to November 5, 2024.
| CANDIDATE | CONTRAST | 484,924 |
| CANDIDATE | NEGATIVE | 374,529 |
| CANDIDATE | POSITIVE | 444,980 |
| CANDIDATE & ISSUE-ELECTION | CONTRAST | 13,458 |
| CANDIDATE & ISSUE-ELECTION | NEGATIVE | 16,696 |
| CANDIDATE & ISSUE-ELECTION | POSITIVE | 3,662 |
| CANDIDATE & PARTY | CONTRAST | 97,522 |
| CANDIDATE & PARTY | NEGATIVE | 148,560 |
| CANDIDATE & PARTY | POSITIVE | 60,653 |
| ISSUE-ELECTION | CONTRAST | 178,440 |
| ISSUE-ELECTION | NEGATIVE | 618,009 |
| ISSUE-ELECTION | POSITIVE | 70,765 |
| PARTY | CONTRAST | 3,010 |
| PARTY | NEGATIVE | 89,431 |
| PARTY | POSITIVE | 55 |
| PRIVATE CITIZEN | CONTRAST | 1,375 |
| PRIVATE CITIZEN | NEGATIVE | 153 |
| PRIVATE CITIZEN | POSITIVE | 743 |
| Federal races (House, Senate, president), September 1 through Election Day CITE SOURCE OF DATA AS: Vivvix CMAG with analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project. |
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About This Report
Data reported here from Vivvix/CMAG do not cover local cable buys, only broadcast television, national network and national cable buys.
The Wesleyan Media Project provides real-time tracking and analysis of all political television advertising in an effort to increase transparency in elections. Housed in Wesleyan’s Quantitative Analysis Center – part of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life – the Wesleyan Media Project is the successor to the Wisconsin Advertising Project, which disbanded in 2009. It is directed by Erika Franklin Fowler, professor of government at Wesleyan University, Michael M. Franz, professor of government at Bowdoin College and Travis N. Ridout, professor of political science at Washington State University.WMP personnel include Breeze Floyd (Program Manager), Pavel Oleinikov (Associate Director, QAC), and Yujin Kim (Post-Doctoral Fellow).
Support for issue spotlight reports were provided in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (grant #G-2023-68459) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (grant #79754). The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of either foundation. The Wesleyan Media Project is partnering again this year with OpenSecrets, to provide added information on outside group disclosure and candidate status.
Periodic releases of data will be posted on the project’s website and dispersed via LinkedIn, Bluesky @wesmediaproject.bsky.social and Twitter @wesmediaproject. To be added to our email update list, click here.
For more information contact: media@wesleyan.edu.
About Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Conn., is known for the excellence of its academic and co-curricular programs. With more than 2,900 undergraduates and 200 graduate students, Wesleyan is dedicated to providing a liberal arts education characterized by boldness, rigor and practical idealism. For more, visit www.wesleyan.edu.
