Report: Midterm Elections See Record Ad Spending

The 2022 midterms are on pace to blow past the 2018 cycle’s record ad spending after nearly $3.6 billion has already been spent on political and issue ads so far, according to data provided to Axios by an analytics firm AdImpact.

In the 2018 cycle, roughly $3.96 billion was spent on issue and political advertising, while the data shows there has already been approximately $3.57 billion spent this cycle. So, with more than three months left until election day and close races, this cycle is more likely to blow past the previous record.

In fact, AdImpact initially predicted that the 2022 midterms could outpace the historic $9 billion spent in the 2020 presidential election.

Record fundraising numbers and money in politics have left a record percentage being shifted to ad streaming this cycle, ultimately allowing candidates to narrow down their targeted ads to specific groups of people.

The analytic firm found that 44 percent of the roughly 700 million spent on political and issue ads so far have been on television, a big jump from 2020, when barely any money was spent.

Axios also noted that streaming and Internet platforms, unlike broadcasting companies, are not required to accept political and issue ads. While TikTok and Twitter do not take them, for now, there exists the opportunity to provide a huge influx of cash for platforms willing to take it, which could make some rethink the decision not to allow them entirely.

In fact, Disney told Axios last week that it would allow political issue and candidate ads on Hulu after an influx of controversy erupted after the platform rejected political issue ads on guns and abortions from Democrat-backed groups.

Additionally, Spotify said earlier in the year it would start accepting political ads again after the streaming service paused the function in 2020. Still, the company will not accept political issue ads.

Editor’s Note: Incorrect share-of-ad-spend numbers related to streaming platforms have been removed from this story.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.