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Television Background - Study: Obama's outlay on TV ads last week topped McCain's 3-to-1
Journal Photo Illustration by Richard Boyd II
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Published: October 9, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Heading into their final month of campaigning, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama outspent Republican John McCain 3-to-1 last week on television ads in such battleground states as Florida and Virginia and by 8-to-1 in North Carolina.
A nonpartisan study released yesterday by the Wisconsin Advertising Project also showed that nearly all of the TV ads aired by the McCain team had "negative" or harsh overtones, reflecting the more aggressive rhetoric heard on the stump from McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin.
The study said that 34 percent of Obama's ads over those same days could be considered "negative."
Ten of the 15 states where both candidates advertised -- including Florida, Virginia and North Carolina -- were won by President Bush in the 2004 election, said Ken Goldstein, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the director of the advertising project.
"This campaign is being played on the Republican side of the field this year," concluded Goldstein, who added that Obama's fundraising advantage is allowing him to spend his TV ad money in more states.
Nationally, the study found that Obama and McCain combined to spend $28 million from Sept. 28 through Oct. 4 on TV ads. Obama had a $6 million edge in spending over McCain and the Republican National Committee, which is helping McCain air his ads.
Ohio, a traditional swing state in presidential elections, drew the most advertising dollars, as the Obama camp spent $2.2 million and the McCain team spent $1.7 million.
Florida -- where Tampa, Orlando and Miami are three of Obama's six busiest TV-advertising markets nationwide -- attracted the second-highest amount of spending. Obama spent $2.2 million there, while the McCain camp spent $659,000.
Virginia is ranked fifth among all states after Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania and Michigan. There, Obama out-advertised McCain, $2 million to $547,000.
North Carolina ranked eighth, but the advertising dollars spent there were even more lopsided. Obama spent $1.2 million, and McCain spent $148,000.
Obama's busiest six markets for airing ads were Las Vegas, Tampa, Denver, Orlando, Milwaukee, and Miami. McCain's six busiest markets were Denver; Las Vegas; Green Bay, Wis.; Cleveland; Milwaukee; and Reno, Nev.
Despite spending $1.2 million in Michigan, McCain pulled his campaign out of the state last Thursday.
Although the study found that "nearly 100 percent" of McCain's TV ads were negative last week, compared with 34 percent for Obama, it also reported that both candidates' campaigns have been more negative on TV than their 2004 predecessors, Bush and Democratic Sen. John Kerry.
During all of 2004, 64 percent of the campaign ads for Bush were negative, while to date 73 percent of McCain's have been. And 34 percent of Kerry's ads were negative, compared with 61 percent of Obama's ads so far.
■ Billy House can be reached at 202-662-7673 or at bhouse@mediageneral.com.
McCain-Obama ad numbers
The top 15 states in which both the McCain and Obama campaigns are buying local television advertising, which does not include national cable-television purchases. The period runs from Sept. 28 through Oct. 4:
State - McCain - Obama
Colorado - $801,000 - $980,000
Florida - $659,000 - $2.2 million
Indiana - $179,000 - $614,000
Iowa - $227,000 - $172,000
Michigan - $1.25 million - $1.59 million
Minnesota - $608,000 - $121,000
Missouri - $193,000 - $492,000
North Carolina - $148,000 - $1.24 million
New Hampshire - $160,000 - $354,000
New Mexico - $144,000 - $185,000
Nevada - $329,000 - $616,000
Ohio - $1.73 million - $2.22 million
Pennsylvania - $1.65 million - $2.2 million
Virginia - $547,000 - $2.01 million
Wisconsin - - $896,000 - $1.19 million
Source: Wisconsin Advertising Project
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