Read more on other top races and spending: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-030...
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@wesleyanuniversity.bsky.social
#2026election #politicalads
The total was boosted by high levels of spending from outside groups, which accounted for over 60 percent of total ad spending for both chambers of Congress.
Broadcast ads totaled $200 million in congressional races (roughly 36 percent of the total), but ad spending was distributed widely across mediums.
💥 In case you missed our NEW WMP report from last week: 2026 midterm ad spending for U.S. House and U.S. Senate races reached $565M cycle-to-date.
Read full report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-030...
Report by: @mikefranz.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social
📢 We're Hiring!
The Wesleyan Media Project (WMP), in collaboration with Wesleyan University’s Hazel Quantitative Analysis Center (QAC) at Wesleyan University, is seeking a postdoctoral researcher in computational social science to join us.
Anna Massoglia has a new analysis with @brennancenter.org exploring dark money spending in the 2024 elections (www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...). Anna looked at many sources of data, including our analysis on dark money sponsors of TV ads in 2023-24. mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/dark-money-o...
Congrats to our co-director, Michael Franz, who has been named the DeAlva Stanwood Alexander Professor of Government at his home institution, Bowdoin College!
www.bowdoin.edu/news/2025/05...
@mikefranz.bsky.social
TV advertising in 2024 presidential race was close to dead even. Our quick take on political advertising in this year's campaign. With @efranklinfowler.bsky.social and @mikefranz.bsky.social
📈📊 A stunning amount of ads and a stunningly even distribution of presidential advertising between the parties on television. Harris still leads on digital. Read more 2024 analysis in our final pre-election report this cycle ⬇️⬇️
📢New WMP report: In the past week, only a very small percentage of pro-Harris ads were positive, with most of them falling into the contrast category. The Trump campaign split its ads between contrast ads and attack ads.
Read full report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-103...
#2024election
💥NEW WMP report: More than $4.5 billion in ad spending this cycle, when digital ad spending is added to the mix, total spending tops $5 billion.
Read more: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-103...
@mmfranz.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social
@opensecretsdc.bsky.social
💥 NEW report from WMP: Nearly $300 Million in Presidential Ad Spending Across Platforms Over Past Two Weeks.
Read the full report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-102...
@efranklinfowler.bsky.social , @tnridout.bsky.social, and @mmfranz.bsky.social.
#2024election #politicalads
💥 New tools for visualizing presidential advertising by geography! One that shows the breakdown of presidential ads by issue mentions on TV & one that shows FB & IG spending over time. ⬇️ mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/issues-oct24/
@mmfranz.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social
📢 For those who care about transparency and #darkmoney in elections, we’ve found at least $281 million so far from advertisers who may not report all of their donors. #2024election polisky #polcomm #commsky ⬇️⬇️
@efranklinfowler.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social @mmfranz.bsky.social
💥 NEW report from WMP, @opensecretsdc.bsky.social, and @brennancenter.bsky.social sheds light on the scope of online ad spending this election cycle on the two largest online platforms, Google and Meta.
Read more: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/reports-1016...
#2024election #politicalads
💥NEW from WMP: Trump and his allies show signs of closing the TV ad gap in the past week, but Harris still has large leads online.
Read the full report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-101...
@mmfranz.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social w/ @opensecretsdc.bsky.social
💡 WMP Issue Spotlight: This is the third post in a series of issue mentions in federal races by state shows the percentage of ads mentioning eight key issues tracked by the WMP.
See the release for more details: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/issues-sept24/
💥 NEW from WMP: Harris is dominating digital platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram.
Read the full report for more: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-092...
@mmfranz.bsky.social, @tnridout.bsky.social, and @efranklinfowler.bsky.social
#2024election #politicalads
💥NEW from WMP: Pro-Trump Ads Declining on TV; Harris outspends Trump 16:1 on Meta & 3:1 on Google.
Pro-Harris TV ads more common than pro-Trump in almost all media markets nationally.
mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-092...
@efranklinfowler.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social @mmfranz.bsky.social
📢 With control of the House and Senate in play, the latest WMP report includes key findings and ad data:
• House ad volume sets records.
• Outside groups are heavily involved.
mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-091...
@opensecretsdc.bsky.social
#politicalads #2024election
💥NEW from WMP: Dem, GOP TV ads are almost equal, but Harris is outspending Trump nearly 3:1 on Meta & Google.
Airings in pres race have shifted to focus on the economy.
Full report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-091...
@mmfranz.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social
Map of the volume of campaign ads by media market in the U.S.
We have a visualization @wesmediaproject.bsky.social showing television ad volume where you can see the comparison: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-082...
💥 New WMP report: Trump & allies unleash barrage of attack ads. Harris is competitive on TV & w/DNC heavily outspending Trump on Meta & Google. #2024election polisky polcomm #commsky
@tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social
Read the full report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-082...
Such a fantastic site for campaign advertising information and figures! I use it in class all the time.
📢 New WMP report: Trump and allies are currently out-airing Harris and allies on TV in the early restart of the presidential general election. #2024Election #Presidentialelection
@efranklinfowler.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social
mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-081...
💥New WMP Report on pre/post debate TV ads: Biden activity in the 2 weeks before & after the debate was steady, but pro-Biden ads declined.
@tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social
Read the full report here: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-071...
#2024election
💥WMP Report Digital Update: The Biden campaign has outspent the Trump campaign by more than 3:1 on digital ads since March 6
@tnridout.bsky.social
@efranklinfowler.bsky.social
w/
@opensecretsdc.bsky.social
Read the full report here: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-053...
#2024election
Here’s the latest from WMP on TV 📺 advertising, including updates on volume, spending, and issues in presidential and congressional races and tone in the presidential general election so far!
Stay tuned for a digital advertising update next week… polisky polcomm #commsky