Illinois Among Top States For Candidate TV Ad Spending
From the Associated Press
If it seems as though the number of political ads on television has ramped up markedly this election, now there’s concrete proof.
Fueled by a neck-and-neck contest for governor including a wealthy Republican candidate with money to burn, Illinois has seen a roughly 30 percent increase in the number of TV ads and the money spent to air them this election cycle compared to four years ago, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity.
The review released Wednesday found candidates for Illinois offices spent more than $26.4 million to air an estimated 34,589 ads between Jan. 1, 2013, and Sept. 8 of this year. That’s up from about $20.5 million for an estimated 26,554 ads during roughly the same time period in 2010, the last year Illinois elected a governor and other statewide officeholders.
The analysis includes only the cost of TV airtime, not expenses associated with producing the ads. It doesn’t include spending for local cable TV advertising, or for radio or the internet, so the total spending on political ads can be significantly higher.
The increase comes even as spending nationwide decreased by about 45 percent compared with 2010. That year, more than half of the spending on TV ads occurred between mid-September and Election Day — a sign that in Illinois, the air wars could just be getting started.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Associated Press
If it seems as though the number of political ads on television has ramped up markedly this election, now there’s concrete proof.
Fueled by a neck-and-neck contest for governor including a wealthy Republican candidate with money to burn, Illinois has seen a roughly 30 percent increase in the number of TV ads and the money spent to air them this election cycle compared to four years ago, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity.
The review released Wednesday found candidates for Illinois offices spent more than $26.4 million to air an estimated 34,589 ads between Jan. 1, 2013, and Sept. 8 of this year. That’s up from about $20.5 million for an estimated 26,554 ads during roughly the same time period in 2010, the last year Illinois elected a governor and other statewide officeholders.
The analysis includes only the cost of TV airtime, not expenses associated with producing the ads. It doesn’t include spending for local cable TV advertising, or for radio or the internet, so the total spending on political ads can be significantly higher.
The increase comes even as spending nationwide decreased by about 45 percent compared with 2010. That year, more than half of the spending on TV ads occurred between mid-September and Election Day — a sign that in Illinois, the air wars could just be getting started.
Read more in our daily News Update...