Political Ads Start Streaming Onto TVs

If you talk to political buyers, they will tell you two things: TV advertising works to get out the vote and the smaller the population center, the harder it is to reach key voting blocs. This is often because small markets have limited broadcast and TV inventory. 

Madhive, which provides the streaming infrastructure powering CTV advertising and reach extensive for local broadcasters like Fox, Scripps and Hearst has provided us with a few indicators from a large sample size comprising all zip code activity in the U.S. A few findings in the lead-up to Super Tuesday:

• Congressional races were driving the highest share of political CTV ad impressions at 76.8%, followed by local elections (16.6%) and presidential (5.7%).
• New York’s third Congressional district accounted for the largest share of political CTV ad impressions, followed by Illinois’s 12th district and Ohio’s 2nd district.
• As broadcast inventory sells out, CTV is a growing opportunity for political campaigns to engage with younger audiences in a targeted environment.
• The chart below shows year-to-date (Jan. 1-Mar. 5) political CTV ad impressions deliveries by zip code.