The holidays are over and the business of the election season came to an end quite a bit ago, but we are finally seeing the numbers for the budget in election spending on media.

Some results were noted throughout the election. One thing we kept seeing is the amount surpassing the budget. It was interesting to see where the money was spent and what made more of a difference this year during the election. Lets take a deeper look…

Thanks to AdImpact’s research, we are able to have an in-depth look into how the year broke down.

Originally, it was projected $10.78 billion would be spent on political ads last year. This was, surprisingly yet not so surprisingly, passed. $11.1 billion was the total amount spent. This was 9% more than the total for 2022, and 54% more than 2020.

One thing that sent a surge in spending was the last -minute budget explosion from Kamala Harris. Her party ignited a spike in spending towards the end of the election.

Who had the most wallet decrease? The Democrats had 55% of the house ad spending while 60% belonged to the House general. New York’s 19th Congressional District contest was the most expensive House race in history! Theirs went over $50 million in ad spending.

Radio’s budget was high this year. $326 million was spent in political ads on radio. Television did have the biggest share of all media with $5.35 billion total. This was 48% of the cycle’s total. Great number, however, this is the first time it’s been below 50%. Not much lower, but definitely lower.

Here’s something new! CTV ads played a huge role in ad spending this year. CTV stands for Connected TV, which are video ads that are shown from streaming services during a movie or TV show. These are viewed on actual TV. $2.3 billion was spent on CTV ads!! This could be a game changer in how political ads will be sold in years to come.

Digital ads played a strong role this year as well. $1.6 billion was spent on digital. I know a lot of stations are pushing digital and this is a great example to use as to why and how it can be powerful.

You can use these numbers in sales and digital, as said above. This research is proof radio and television are paramount wanting to send a message to the masses.