You bailed on TV. But politicians are still spending all their money there.
Audiences have been leaving TV for the internet for a very long time. Most advertisers have figured that out some time ago. But not political ones.
Even as people shift their attention to the internet and social media platforms, political campaigns continue to pour most of their advertising budgets into traditional television and cable TV advertising. In the 2024 election cycle, more than 60% of the estimated $11.6 billion spent on political ads will go to TV, with an additional 20% allocated to streaming TV.
Political consultant Rob Flaherty, who has worked for Democrats including Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris, explains why this is the case. According to Flaherty, even if digital platforms have become the primary source of entertainment for most people, television remains a critical component of political campaigns. One reason for this is that digital ad inventory is limited, and social media is mainly used for base-building rather than mind-changing.
Television, on the other hand, concentrates on a smaller number of higher-view surfaces, making it more effective for influencing voters. Additionally, political campaigns often have economic incentives to spend on TV since general consultants, who often work for the campaigns, earn a cut of the media spend. This creates a rent-seeking dynamic, where the most senior consultants have been around for a while and continue to push for more TV spending.
While Flaherty and others hope that political campaigns will eventually shift more of their budgets to digital platforms, it seems that the profitability and long-standing influence of television will keep it a dominant force in political advertising for the foreseeable future.
Written by urgent.news from Business Insider's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
