As Political Ad Spending Skyrockets, Broadcast TV Remains King

The deluge of political advertising in this year’s midterm elections is shattering previous records.

Almost half of that money is going to a surprising place: your local TV channel.

Advertisers, following the changing viewing habits of Americans, have increasingly shifted their marketing dollars to social platforms, streaming channels and other digital media. Yet when it comes to federal and state races, politicians and PACs are brushing aside concerns that TV ads are costlier to produce and less efficient in targeting prospective voters — and are showering local stations with billions of dollars.

This election will show how much that calculus still holds in a transformed media environment.

“I think the Democrats and Republicans are both spending a disproportionate amount of their budgets on broadcast TV at this point,” said Danielle Butterfield, a Democratic strategist and the executive director of Priorities USA. “Because you can see so clearly what’s happening on the other side, there’s this muscle memory needing to chase and match.”

Political consultants and television executives argue that while broadcast TV may not be what it once was, those ads can reach a larger swath of the population more quickly than through other media. And that audience watching their nightly news programs, not to mention their favorite sitcoms, dramas and football games, is a devoted one.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/01/business/media/advertising-paxton-talarico-texas-television.html