In the home stretch leading up to the presidential election, Sen. Barack Obama is easily out-advertising his presidential opponent, Sen. John McCain.
In seven key swing states — Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, Obama placed 150% more ad units (53,049 v. 21,106) than McCain between October 6 and October 22, 2008.
Obama’s advertising has been most prolific in Florida, where he ran 15,887 ads between October 6 and October 22, 2008, outpacing McCain’s 4,662 ads by 240%.
Advertising by both McCain and Obama peaked on Friday, October 17 (6,031 combined ad units) – just two days after their final presidential debate.
Both candidates have focused their advertising on Florida (20,549 combined ad units), Ohio (18,349 combined ad units), and Pennsylvania (14,286 combined ad units).
In contrast, both candidates have all but ignored Georgia, a new addition to the roster of swing states this election. Obama ran 1,410 ads in the state between October 6 and October 22, 2008, while McCain ran just 22.
| Top 3 Swing States: Oct. 6 – 22, 2008 (by # of ad units*) |
Bottom 3 Swing States: Oct. 6 – 22, 2008 (by # of ad units*) |
|
|---|---|---|
| John McCain | Ohio (5,606) Pennsylvania (4,740) Florida (4,662) |
Georgia (22) Missouri (1,560) Virginia (2,290) |
| Barack Obama | Florida (15,887) Ohio (13,289) Pennsylvania (9,546) |
Georgia (1,410) Missouri (3,168) Colorado (4,317) |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (October 6, 2008 – October 22, 2008). | ||
| *Note: Television advertising activity reported includes preliminary commercial occurrences for local and national broadcast TV and syndicated TV. Local cable TV advertising activity is not included. | ||
Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in The Boston Globe.
Stay tuned on NielsenWire for daily political ad updates from the swing states.
