CTV overtakes cable in AdImpact’s midterm advertising tally

What changed

The figures compare with the 2022 midterms: CTV was up 122%, while cable fell 26% to less than $1.3 billion. Adweek reports that streaming received 53% of the $2.5 billion increase in total investment. The figures describe the tracked cycle to the reporting date, not a final audited total for every political-ad channel.

The relevant point for commercial buyers is that spending can concentrate in particular markets and periods. A national total cannot tell an agency the clearing price for a specific audience, region or programme. It also cannot prove that rates will fall immediately after voting, because holiday demand and other commitments can affect availability.

Use the report as context when asking a buying partner about delivery conditions. Compare planned and delivered impressions, frequency, geography and price within the same campaign. Where a booking changed, record the inventory and timing involved rather than attributing every Q4 fluctuation to political spending.

CTV and cable are different buying and measurement environments. Their spending totals should not be converted into a claim that one channel is universally more effective, or that a brand should copy a political advertiser’s mix. A commercial campaign’s audience, decision cycle and outcome measure may be very different.

AdImpact is credited as the research organisation and Barnett as the first reporter identified in the reviewed evidence. PPC Land’s later summary remains supporting coverage. Adweek’s public preview and metadata were readable, but the complete subscriber article was not independently reviewed. This article confines its factual claims to the accessible figures and does not repeat election-result or legislative predictions from the later commentary.