Political Dollars: Told Ya So….

At the time for many linear TV inventory providers the political dollars were trickling in at a slower pace than at that point in 2020 Some industry participants may even have feared that total 2024 political might not meet early expectations and might not even match much less surpass 2020Iamp8217m reminded now of the Dickens line amp8220It was the best of times it was the worst of timesamp8221 Our stance in May was that inventory holders should not get complacent amp8211 or depressed amp8211 but rather should brace for a heavierthanever Q4 and all the inventorymanagement challenges that could poseIn other words to borrow from Dickens amp8211 and depending on your vantage point amp8211 we cautioned folks to prepare for the bestamp8230 or the worstWell as we could have predicted the political dollars indeed have flowed in Early last month AdImpact reported August saw political ad spending hit 104 billion nearly double the 523 million spent during July And AdImpact calculated total ad spending during the full 2024 election cycle at Aug 30 totaling 46 billion amp8211 up 28 from 36 billion spent by that point during the 2020 cycleAnd this of course did not factor in bookings already secured for September through Election Day And on that point at the end of September AdImpact announced that the pace had accelerated further amp8211 with the 2024 election cycle having pulled in nearly 62 billion since it began in mid2023 amp8211 up 32 from 47 billion in spending at that point in the election cycle four years agoAs a company that helps steer ad bookings to clients we of course consider these the best of times But if youamp8217re a traffic manager in the trenches at an MVPD or local TV broadcaster in a battleground state your enthusiasm may be tinged with the mild panic of juggling the influx of political orders with the needs of your core ad clientsItamp8217s a nicer problem to have than the alternative of course but it nevertheless poses a problemWeamp8217ve seen the growing phenomenon of core local TV advertisers such as auto dealers parking if youamp8217ll forgive the metaphor their dollars on the sidelines and waiting until after Election Day before attempting to book any orders Weamp8217re hearing that some linear TV inventory providers in key battleground markets are in some weeks seeing as much as 80 of their revenue coming via the political categoryAs I write this weamp8217ve already booked double the JanuarytoSeptember political dollars in the battleground state of Pennsylvania that we booked during that period in 2020 and are comfortably projecting a doubling of 2020 spending on our footprint in that state when all is said and done postElection Day CTV orders that we handle are coming on strong to be sure but the lionamp8217s share continues to flow to the linear platformsWeamp8217ve seen both the Harris and Trump campaigns and PACs spending heavily as well in Georgia North Carolina and Wisconsin In terms of programming at Viamedia weamp8217ve seen lots of ad orders around the debates and around football games amp8211 increasingly a great place to reach not just male voters but virtually all demosAnd yet the spending is not restricted to presidential battleground states like Pennsylvania Georgia North Carolina Michigan Wisconsin Nevada and Arizona Donamp8217t forget the large number of highly competitive amp8220downballotamp8221 races for the House Senate and statehouses Weamp8217re seeing record levels of spending in amp8220redamp8221 states like Ohio and Texas not just the seven aforementioned amp8220purpleamp8221 statesSo itamp8217s admittedly a little late in the cycle for me to be warning readers anew about the inventorymanagement challenges of a political year But I will take this opportunity to make a prediction For all the doom ampamp gloom naysaying about the outlook for linear TV advertising I will put my money on 2026 being another record for MidTerm election spendingamp8230 and for 2028 to mark another record for presidential cycle ad spendingPosted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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Political Dollars: Told Ya So….

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David Solomon

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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Political Dollars: Told Ya So….

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