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State of the Screens

Political Ad Spending Will Approach $10 Billion in 2020, New Forecast Predicts

By June 13, 2019No Comments

Presidential year political ad spending by cycle according to GroupM (% growth):
1)
2012 — $4.3B
2)
2016 — $6.3B (↑ 46%)
3) 2020P — $9.9B (↑ 58%)

Midterm year political ad spending by cycle (% growth):
1)
2010 — $4.0B
2)
2014 — $4.3B (↑ 8%)
3) 2018 — $8.7B (↑ 101%)

Flashback: Sinclair: Political To Come ‘Hand Over Fist’ In 2020

Quote from Steven Marks — EVP @ Sinclair Broadcast Group:
“Every other day there is somebody joining the race. It really bodes well for local broadcasters. There is going to be quite a robust fourth quarter [this year] and in 2020 we are not going to be able to get out of the way of the money. It’s going to be literally hand over fist.”

Compound annual growth rate between 2014–18:
1)
Political advertising — 15.50%
2)
All advertising — 6.25%

Quote from Kyle Roberts — CEO @ Advertising Analytics:
“Fundraising on the internet is bigger than ever, and candidates have more reach into low dollars than ever before, and it results in more cash in the system… Election campaigns increasingly are able to amass considerable sums from small donations made online by supporters.”

More #1: Hulu, Spotify Competing for Bigger Share of Political Ad Spending

More #2: Broadcasters forecast 2020 political advertising bonanza

More #3: The political playbook of advertising

Michael Beach

Michael Beach is the Chief Executive Officer of Cross Screen Media, a media analytics and software company that enables marketers to plan, activate, and measure CTV and linear TV at the local level. Michael is also the founder and editor of State of the Screens, a weekly newsletter focused on video advertising that is a must-read for thought leaders in the advertising industry. He has appeared in such publications as PBS Frontline, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Axios, CNBC and Bloomberg, and on NPR’s Planet Money podcast.