Media Business
2024 Political Ad Spending Surpasses 2020 by $200 Million

Published
4 months agoon

According to AdImpact, an ad-tracking firm, the 2024 federal election cycle is already surpassing the 2020 cycle by $200 million. As of May 26, a total of $382.65 million has been spent in the current cycle, compared to $182.99 million during the 2020 election cycle.
According to Inside Radio, AdImpact’s latest update states, “Spending has been more consistent in the current cycle than in 2020 across the board, as there has been a wide variety of competitive elections already in 2023.”
The increase in spending can be attributed to a larger number of candidates in the field. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), who announced his presidential bid this month, has already spent $5 million on ad buys. Most of these ads were targeted at early state voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, with a focus on the Boston and Des Moines markets.
Overall, AdImpact reveals that the 2024 presidential contest is already outpacing spending from four years ago by almost a third. At this point in the 2020 presidential election cycle, $24 million had been spent, whereas $37.1 million has been spent so far in the current race.
Former President Donald Trump and his affiliated political action committee, MAGA Inc., have collectively spent $15.7 million. Another Republican issue group supportive of Trump has also made significant expenditures. Never Back Down and MAGA Inc. have each spent at least $10.8 million. Trump and groups aligned with him account for 71% of all presidential spending thus far. Additionally, two other Republican advertisers, Perry Johnson and Vivek Ramaswamy, have each spent over one million dollars.
In contrast, President Biden has invested $3.7 million in ad buys. While the presidential race garners most of the attention, 2023 has witnessed five elections with ad spending exceeding $10 million. This contrasts with just one such occurrence in 2019. The most expensive race was the Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, which saw over $40 million in spending. The Philadelphia mayor’s race primary ranked second, with $36 million spent, followed by the Chicago mayoral contest. The Kentucky gubernatorial primary and the Jacksonville, FL primary also exceeded $10 million in ad spending.
AdImpact’s report also reveals an increase in issue spending during 2023, although at a slower rate compared to candidate spending. A total of $145 million has been spent on issue ads thus far in the current cycle, marking a 97% increase from four years ago. This is lower than the 172% increase in spending on standard election ads, which rose from $88 million to $239 million. Healthcare issues have experienced significant growth, with spending in this area rising by $11.9 million between 2019 and 2023.

Maddy Troy serves as a writer and editor for Barrett News Media, with a specific focus on media business, advertising, and podcasting. You can find her on Twitter @Troy_Maddy.
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Media Business
Tom Tradup Named Contributing Editor of All Israel News

Published
3 days agoon
September 29, 2023By
BNM Staff
Salem Radio Network Vice President Tom Tradup has been hired as Contributing Editor of All Israel News, the publication has announced.
In his new role, Tradup will coach the outlet’s writers and editors, and will also provide a weekly column about Israel, the Arab world, and U.S. policy in the Middle East.
“I could not be more thrilled that Tom Tradup has agreed to help All Israel News publish more great content and dramatically expand our traffic, reach, and influence,” founder Joel C. Rosenberg said.
Tradup will continue in his full-time role at Salem Radio Network, in addition to his new role with All Israel News.
“I’m honored to work with Joel Rosenberg and his awesome team. Given that they only launched on September 1, 2020, I’m astonished by just how much they’ve accomplished. They’re breaking stories that are getting picked up by much larger American and Israeli news outlets. They’re getting exclusive interviews with the most powerful leaders in Israel and the Arab world,” said Tradup.
“Also, they’re providing the best daily online coverage of what’s happening with Christians in Israel and the broader Middle East. TBN loves their work and has created a prime-time TV show with Joel as anchor and executive producer. And Joel is being interviewed by Fox News, Newsmax, the Jerusalem Post, and so many other major media outlets because of his expertise and unique perspective on the region.
“Clearly, the Lord is doing something very special here, and at this pivotal moment in history, I’m really looking forward to helping Joel and his colleagues build on this successful foundation and create exciting new content that educates Evangelical Christians about what’s happening in Israel and the region from a distinctly Biblical worldview.”
Media Business
NAB CEO Curtis Legeyt Applauds Court Decision to Complete Quadrennial Review
“This ruling is an important step to compel a review that the record makes clear is necessary to allow local broadcasters to more fairly compete and deliver our trusted, locally-focused programming in a transformed media marketplace.”

Published
3 days agoon
September 29, 2023By
BNM Staff
A U.S. Court of Appeals has handed down a decision providing the FCC 90 days to complete the 2018 quadrennial review. The NAB has shared their pleasure with the decision.
“NAB applauds the Court for recognizing the vital importance of the FCC completing its long overdue 2018 quadrennial review. Today, broadcasters’ service to communities across the country is imperiled by the Commission’s failure to modernize its decades-old media ownership rules,” NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt said. “This ruling is an important step to compel a review that the record makes clear is necessary to allow local broadcasters to more fairly compete and deliver our trusted, locally-focused programming in a transformed media marketplace.”
Earlier this year, the NAB threatened to sue the FCC if it did not respond to a request to postpone the 2022 review until the 2018 review was completed. FCC Jessica Rosenworcel subsequently shared that changes to the commission’s ownership rules were still a work in progress, despite the legal challenges facing the quadrennial review.
However, the broadcaster group has shared its intention of working together with the FCC to find a resolution.
“NAB looks forward to actively engaging with the FCC to forge a path forward and reinforce the essential service provided by free, local broadcast stations in communities across the country.”
Media Business
X Will Be Turning a Profit in 2024 Says CEO Linda Yaccarino
“90% of the top 100 advertisers have returned to the platform in the last 12 weeks alone.”

Published
3 days agoon
September 29, 2023By
BNM Staff
The profitability of X, formerly Twitter, has been a hot topic since the social media platform was purchased by billionaire Elon Musk. His hand-picked CEO, Linda Yaccarino, says the company will be in the black in 2024.
While appearing at the Code Conference, Yaccarino said that since she has taken on the role of CEO, she know sees a path to profitability for the company.
“Now that I have immersed myself in the business, and we have a good set of eyes on what is predictable, what’s coming is that it looks like in early ’24, we will be turning a profit,” Yaccarino said.
During the interview, which has been labeled by observers as “odd” and “uncomfortable, Yaccarino claimed, “90% of the top 100 advertisers have returned to the platform in the last 12 weeks alone.”
In its first 13 years of operation, the social media company has yet to turn a profit. However, the insinuation of profitability by Yaccarino isn’t the first time she’s claimed the company was close to being in the black. In an interview with CNBC in August, she said the platform was “pretty close to breakeven”.
Yaccarino added that she views X as “a new company”, saying it’s a “new day”. She continued by noting that her belief is X is “building a foundation on expression and freedom of speech”, whereas Twitter was “operating on different sets of rules…different philosophies and ideologies that were creeping down the road of censorship”.