Vice President Kamala Harris (left) and former President Donald Trump
Reuters
Consumers who have cut the cable cord in recent years have discovered that there is one thing they can’t escape on linear TV: political advertising.
With less than 70 days until the US presidential election, campaigns are flocking to streaming services such as Year and Hulu to such an extent that ad spend on connected TV is higher than on online platforms such as Facebook and Google.
That’s according to data provided to CNBC by political advertising analytics firm AdImpact, which is tracking the connected TV (CTV) category starting in 2022. At $236 million 23. AdImpact said the digital category brought in nearly $235 million in revenue during the same period, with Facebook and Google accounting for nearly all of it.
“CTV is where engagement is high,” said Jaime Vasil Winkelfoos, group vice president of candidates and causes at ad tech company Basis Technologies. “When voters say they are When they’re watching TV, they don’t say, ‘I’m watching the radio.'”
This trend “is very important for political campaigns when allocating budgets,” Winkelfuss said.
Still, while more money is flowing to streaming services, the total amount pales in comparison to traditional broadcast TV.
AdImpact currently expects overall political ad spending to reach $10.7 billion in the 2024 election cycle. Broadcasting will account for about half, followed by CTV (about 14%) and digital TV (about 12%). according to a eMarketer’s report from last weekCTV’s share of spending in this election will soar to 13% from 2.7% in the previous presidential cycle.
From early January through August 23, broadcast revenue was approximately $473 million.
Meanwhile, overall election-related spending on Facebook and Google fell by more than half from 2020, with political ad spending on the two platforms reaching $480 million from January 1 to August 23. The main reason is that the election is highly competitive.
“This flows into direct advertising, which is particularly good for Meta and Google,” said Eric Haggstrom, vice president of business intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions.
Over the past few years, streaming services have not only become increasingly popular with consumers, but they have also opened up new ad-based services. NetflixFor example, the company debuted an ad-supported subscription program in late 2022 as part of a broader effort to drive revenue amid slowing user growth. Netflix doesn’t accept political ads yet.
Winkelfoos said there is now more ad inventory available on CTV than ever before, which is consistent with the growth of the market. One subtle difference in the AdImpact data is that Google’s YouTube video service falls under the digital category, while YouTube TV is part of CTV.
AdImpact noted that it provided estimates of the amount of CTV political ad spending because the platforms are not subject to Federal Communications Commission rules requiring traditional TV operators to report certain political advertising messages. Facebook and Google, like CTV platforms, are not subject to FCC rules, but they do expose some political advertising material.
A Meta spokesperson declined to comment, but pointed to comments made by Chief Financial Officer Susan Li in February, when she said political ads “are not really a material contribution to our revenue growth.”
“Even in the 2020 U.S. presidential election cycle, the government and politics vertical was not among our top ten verticals, both globally and in the U.S.,” Lee said at the time.
For CTV users, especially those in battleground states, the advertising boom is about to hit hard. Robin Porter, political director at ad agency LoopMe, said 60% to 70% of spending typically occurs after Labor Day, the coming Monday.
Potential voters can expect to see a lot of ads featuring Vice President Kamala Harris. Earlier this month, the Democratic nominee announced plans to spend $370 million on a fall advertising campaign. The campaign has $200 million worth of ad space reserved on streaming media platform Like Hulu, Roku and Pandora, as part of a strategy to attract U.S. consumers.
“Even compared to 2022, more upfront spending is required, particularly on CTV, to secure upfront inventory,” Porter said.
Porter said that in her home state of Georgia, both presidential campaigns have pushed hard to secure ad space on central television and linear broadcasts after Labor Day. Georgia has 16 electoral votes and is seen as a key battleground for the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election.
Winkelfuss said the advertising plan announced by the Harris campaign just days before this month’s Democratic National Convention is significant for the industry.
“Before Kamala, we hadn’t had a big national moment related to big spending,” Winkelfuss said.
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