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Wesleyan Media Project

@wesmediaproject.bsky.social

1.5K followers 127 following 73 posts

Your go-to source for real-time, non-partisan info on US political advertising. Tracking TV & digital ads in federal & gov elections since 2010. Directed by @efranklinfowler.bsky.social, @mikefranz.bsky.social, and @tnridout.bsky.social.

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Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The number of Senate ads on broadcast television this year is on pace with previous years, even exceeding the number in 2022 and 2024. There has been a spike in such ads over the past few weeks, with volumes reaching over 60,000 per week.

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Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

"2026 is shaping up to be a banner year" in U.S. political advertising, per @efranklinfowler.bsky.social. Why? 👉 Record TV airings in House & Gov races 👉 Rise of digital ads has not slowed TV ads 👉 Volume of federal TV ads in 2026 congressional contests nearly 2x what it was in 2012

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Outside groups accounted for the MAJORITY of ad spending in the last month in these races: #MSSen 89.3% #FLSen 82.7% #MESen 78.9% #IASen 78.9% #AKSen 78.4% #OHSen 75% #NCSen 73.8% #TXSen 68.9% #MASen 67.3% #MISen 65.2% #NESen 64.9% #SCSen 63.9% #KSSen 62.3% #MNSen 59.6% #NHSen 53.5% #GASen 53.4%

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Advertisers have spent more on pro-Rep ads than pro-Dem ads in 9 of the top 10 Senate races. Ad spending continues to accelerate, with $4B spent to date & $1B in the last month. mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-091... @efranklinfowler.bsky.social @mikefranz.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Republicans Outspend Democrats in Most Top Senate Races; Ohio Leads Senate and Governor Ad Spending - Wesleyan Media Project

Banner Year for Broadcast Ad Volume in Spite of Increased Digital Ad Spend (MIDDLETOWN, CT) September 17, 2026 – Over the past month, advertisers have spent more on pro-Republican ads than pro-Democratic ads in nine of the top ten Senate races, with Georgia the only state breaking that trend, as Table 1 shows. “The political

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

💥NEW WMP report: Immigration & police top concerns for both parties in Senate races. Ad spending in the cycle to date approaches $3 billion. Report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-081... @tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social @mikefranz.bsky.social @wesleyanuniversity.bsky.social

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Immigration and Police Top Concerns for Both Parties in Senate Races - Wesleyan Media Project

In House, Dems focus more on cost of living; GOP discuss crime and taxes (MIDDLETOWN, CT) August 13, 2026 – Ads supporting Republicans and Democrats running for Senate this year have converged on the ...

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

💥NEW WMP report: Spending in the 2025-2026 midterm election cycle surpassed $2.2 billion in House, Senate, & Governor races, & the federal messaging is predominantly about Trump. mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/release-0618... @efranklinfowler.bsky.social @mikefranz.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Midterm Ad Discussion Revolves Around Trump - Wesleyan Media Project

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

💥NEW WMP report: Past Two Weeks Sees $210 Million in Ad Spending; $20 Million Spent on AI Ads This Cycle Full report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-052... Report by: @tnridout.bsky.social, @efranklinfowler.bsky.social, and @mikefranz.bsky.social @wesleyanuniversity.bsky.social

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

💥NEW WMP report: 2026 Midterm Political Ad Spending Reaches $1.7 Billion Full report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-051... Report by: @tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social @mikefranz.bsky.social @wesleyanuniversity.bsky.social #2026election #politicalads

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Ad spending totals $700 million in the past two months, reaching $1.7 billion cycle-to-date - Wesleyan Media Project

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

💥 In case you missed our NEW WMP report from last week: 2026 midterm ad spending for U.S. House and U.S. Senate races reached $565M cycle-to-date. Read full report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-030... Report by: @mikefranz.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Midterm political ad spending reaches $565 million - Wesleyan Media Project

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

📢 We're Hiring! The Wesleyan Media Project (WMP), in collaboration with Wesleyan University’s Hazel Quantitative Analysis Center (QAC) at Wesleyan University, is seeking a postdoctoral researcher in computational social science to join us.

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Anna Massoglia has a new analysis with @brennancenter.org exploring dark money spending in the 2024 elections (www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...). Anna looked at many sources of data, including our analysis on dark money sponsors of TV ads in 2023-24. mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/dark-money-o...

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Dark Money on TV in the 2024 Elections - Wesleyan Media Project

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Congrats to our co-director, Michael Franz, who has been named the DeAlva Stanwood Alexander Professor of Government at his home institution, Bowdoin College! www.bowdoin.edu/news/2025/05... @mikefranz.bsky.social

Five Professors Appointed to Named Chairs

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Travis N. Ridout @tnridout.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

TV advertising in 2024 presidential race was close to dead even. Our quick take on political advertising in this year's campaign. With @efranklinfowler.bsky.social and @mikefranz.bsky.social

electionanalysis.ws

Advertising trends in the 2024 presidential race - Election Analysis - United States

Prof. Travis N. Ridout Professor in the School of Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs at Washington State University. He does research on political communication, political campaigns and advertisi...

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Erika Franklin Fowler @efranklinfowler.bsky.social · 31/10/2024

📈📊 A stunning amount of ads and a stunningly even distribution of presidential advertising between the parties on television. Harris still leads on digital. Read more 2024 analysis in our final pre-election report this cycle ⬇️⬇️

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 31/10/2024

📢New WMP report: In the past week, only a very small percentage of pro-Harris ads were positive, with most of them falling into the contrast category. The Trump campaign split its ads between contrast ads and attack ads. Read full report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-103... #2024election

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 31/10/2024

💥NEW WMP report: More than $4.5 billion in ad spending this cycle, when digital ad spending is added to the mix, total spending tops $5 billion. Read more: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-103... @mmfranz.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social @opensecretsdc.bsky.social

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

More Than $4.5 Billion in Ad Spending This Cycle - Wesleyan Media Project

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 24/10/2024

💥 NEW report from WMP: Nearly $300 Million in Presidential Ad Spending Across Platforms Over Past Two Weeks. Read the full report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-102... @efranklinfowler.bsky.social , @tnridout.bsky.social, and @mmfranz.bsky.social. #2024election #politicalads

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Harris TV Ads Plummet Before Rebounding - Wesleyan Media Project

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 17/10/2024

💥 New tools for visualizing presidential advertising by geography! One that shows the breakdown of presidential ads by issue mentions on TV & one that shows FB & IG spending over time. ⬇️ mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/issues-oct24/ @mmfranz.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Presidential Advertising Issue Spotlight (7/22/24 – 10/15/24) - Wesleyan Media Project

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Erika Franklin Fowler @efranklinfowler.bsky.social · 16/10/2024

📢 For those who care about transparency and #darkmoney in elections, we’ve found at least $281 million so far from advertisers who may not report all of their donors. #2024election polisky #polcomm #commsky ⬇️⬇️

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 16/10/2024

💥 NEW report from WMP, @opensecretsdc.bsky.social, and @brennancenter.bsky.social sheds light on the scope of online ad spending this election cycle on the two largest online platforms, Google and Meta. Read more: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/reports-1016... #2024election #politicalads

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

New report details at least $600 million in digital Ad spending this cycle - Wesleyan Media Project

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 11/10/2024

💥NEW from WMP: Trump and his allies show signs of closing the TV ad gap in the past week, but Harris still has large leads online. Read the full report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-101... @mmfranz.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social w/ @opensecretsdc.bsky.social

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Trump Narrows Harris’ Ad Advantage in Past Week - Wesleyan Media Project

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 03/10/2024

💡 WMP Issue Spotlight: This is the third post in a series of issue mentions in federal races by state shows the percentage of ads mentioning eight key issues tracked by the WMP. See the release for more details: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/issues-sept24/

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 28/09/2024

💥 NEW from WMP: Harris is dominating digital platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram. Read the full report for more: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-092... @mmfranz.bsky.social, @tnridout.bsky.social, and @efranklinfowler.bsky.social #2024election #politicalads

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 27/09/2024

💥NEW from WMP: Pro-Trump Ads Declining on TV; Harris outspends Trump 16:1 on Meta & 3:1 on Google. Pro-Harris TV ads more common than pro-Trump in almost all media markets nationally. mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-092... @efranklinfowler.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social @mmfranz.bsky.social

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Pro-Trump TV Ads Plummet in Past Two Weeks as Harris Expands Ad Advantage Across Platforms - Wesleyan Media Project

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 13/09/2024

📢 With control of the House and Senate in play, the latest WMP report includes key findings and ad data: • House ad volume sets records. • Outside groups are heavily involved. mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-091... @opensecretsdc.bsky.social #politicalads #2024election

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Presidential Campaign Turns to Economic Issues - Wesleyan Media Project

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 12/09/2024

💥NEW from WMP: Dem, GOP TV ads are almost equal, but Harris is outspending Trump nearly 3:1 on Meta & Google. Airings in pres race have shifted to focus on the economy. Full report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-091... @mmfranz.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Presidential Campaign Turns to Economic Issues - Wesleyan Media Project

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Erika Franklin Fowler @efranklinfowler.bsky.social · 05/09/2024

We have a visualization @wesmediaproject.bsky.social showing television ad volume where you can see the comparison: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-082...

Map of the volume of campaign ads by media market in the U.S.

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 29/08/2024

💥 New WMP report: Trump & allies unleash barrage of attack ads. Harris is competitive on TV & w/DNC heavily outspending Trump on Meta & Google. #2024election polisky polcomm #commsky @tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social Read the full report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-082...

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Trump and Allies Launch Barrage of Negative Ads - Wesleyan Media Project

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Christina Wolbrecht @cwolbrecht.bsky.social · 25/08/2024

Such a fantastic site for campaign advertising information and figures! I use it in class all the time.

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 16/08/2024

📢 New WMP report: Trump and allies are currently out-airing Harris and allies on TV in the early restart of the presidential general election. #2024Election #Presidentialelection @efranklinfowler.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-081...

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Trump Out-Airing Harris in Early Restart of General Election - Wesleyan Media Project

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 16/07/2024

💥New WMP Report on pre/post debate TV ads: Biden activity in the 2 weeks before & after the debate was steady, but pro-Biden ads declined. @tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social Read the full report here: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-071... #2024election

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Biden campaign TV ad spending steady since debate; pro-Biden group spending drops

Wesleyan Media Project

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 31/05/2024

💥WMP Report Digital Update: The Biden campaign has outspent the Trump campaign by more than 3:1 on digital ads since March 6 @tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social w/ @opensecretsdc.bsky.social Read the full report here: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-053... #2024election

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Digital Ad Spending Nearly Even with TV in Presidential General Election

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Erika Franklin Fowler @efranklinfowler.bsky.social · 23/05/2024

Here’s the latest from WMP on TV 📺 advertising, including updates on volume, spending, and issues in presidential and congressional races and tone in the presidential general election so far! Stay tuned for a digital advertising update next week… polisky polcomm #commsky

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 23/05/2024

💥New WMP Report: Biden airs $13m in broadcast ads since Super Tuesday. Trump campaign has none. @tnridout.bsky.social @efranklinfowler.bsky.social & Michael Franz w/ @opensecretsdc.bsky.social Read the full report here: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-052... polisky polcom #commsky

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Biden on TV in Key States, While Trump is Off-Air - Wesleyan Media Project

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 18/03/2024

📈💰Biden dominating the digital space, outspending Trump by 5:1 on Meta and Google. Biden’s campaign has totaled more than $23M, compared to the just over $4M by Trump’s campaign. Read more in our newest report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-031...

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 15/03/2024

🔎🔥Presidential ads may be fading, but the heat is on in congressional races! Dive into the numbers: 300,000+ ad airings and record-breaking spending, and get a glimpse of the strategies shaping the battleground in the WMP’s latest report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-031...

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

U.S. Senate and U.S. House Advertising Spikes as Presidential Ads Wane - Wesleyan Media Project

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Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 14/03/2024

💥New WMP Report: 📉Senate, House Advertising Spikes as Presidential Ads Wane @efranklinfowler.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social & Michael Franz @opensecretsdc.bsky.social Read the full report here: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-031... #wesmediaproject #2024election

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 27/02/2024

New research utilizing WMP data shows polarization of 2022 midterm messaging on race and gender, along with some surprises📊 The analysis builds on 2023 research published by WMP co-directors @efranklinfowler.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social & Michael Franz mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/new-analysis...

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 22/02/2024

Divergent issue agendas between parties shape the election landscape. Democratic ads spotlight healthcare, economy, while Republicans prioritize international affairs, immigration, and China. See more top issues in our report: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/category/rel...

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

2024 Elections - Wesleyan Media Project

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 16/02/2024

Since the NH primary on 1/23, candidates & the groups/parties supporting them have spent only $2.6M on under 8,000 ad airings on broadcast TV stations, says a new WMP report. “The presidential nomination race has winnowed faster than in any other year in recent memory” -@efranklinfowler.bsky.social

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 16/02/2024

💥New WMP Report: Advertising in Presidential Race Takes a Nosedive after New Hampshire📉 @efranklinfowler.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social & Michael Franz

Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 11/01/2024

📢New report from WMP: Heavy Spending by GOP in Iowa, Including Trump Read the full report here: mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-011... @efranklinfowler.bsky.social @tnridout.bsky.social & Michael Franz #wesmediaproject #2024Election

mediaproject.wesleyan.edu

Heavy Spending by GOP in Iowa, including Trump - Wesleyan Media Project