Who's buying the Senate?
With control of Congress in the balance, TV audiences across the country have been bombarded with political ads from campaigns, political committees, super PACs, parties and nonprofit groups. Fueled in large part by loosened restrictions on political money, an ongoing Center for Public Integrity analysis of estimates from ad tracking service Kantar Media/CMAG provide a picture of who is on the air, and where. To oust Democrats from the majority, Republicans need to pick up at least six seats.
includes preliminary data for most recent week
Kantar Media/CMAG monitors TV signals for political advertising nationwide, capturing ads each time they run. Then, using a proprietary formula, it estimates how much placing each ad costs.
Like any estimate, it's imperfect. Here's what it covers, and what it doesn't:
- Just placement on TV — The estimate only covers TV ads, not other kinds of political messages, such as ads that appear on radio or online. The estimate also only includes how much money a candidate or organization spent to place the ad, not to make it.
- No local cable — Kantar Media monitors local broadcast TV in all 210 media markets, as well as national network and national cable TV advertising. If an ad runs on a local cable channel, it won't be counted here.
- Any political ad — Unlike records filed at the Federal Elections Commission, this information includes so-called “issue ads” that mention a Senate candidate but don’t overtly call for the candidate’s election or defeat. Unless run immediately before a primary or general election, issue ad spending does not have to be reported to the FEC.
- No future ads — Unlike some records from the Federal Communications Commission, it only counts ads that have already run. Future ad buys are not included.
- Subject to dispute — Since the estimate is based on a formula, it may not exactly reflect what placing the ad actually cost. Think of the cost estimate as a well-informed guess, which can provide useful points of comparison.
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closeSource: Center for Public Integrity analysis of Kantar Media/CMAG data
What's behind these numbers?