TV Advertising in the 2020 Presidential Election

Strategic Insights -

The Trump and Biden campaigns have found common ground in targeting reruns of "The Big Bang Theory" in their advertising strategies, with the show being the most frequently targeted scripted TV program by both campaigns. This is according to a CNN analysis of data collected by Kantar Media, a data and consulting firm that monitors political advertising. The analysis looked at the broadcast programming most frequently targeted by Trump and Biden in the media markets that have run the most campaign ads during the general election.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Trump and Biden campaigns have targeted reruns of "The Big Bang Theory" in their advertising strategies, with the show being the most frequently targeted scripted TV program by both campaigns.
  • Both campaigns have prioritized morning talk shows, with Biden targeting TV One and the Oprah Winfrey Network, and Trump targeting Fox News and "¡Despierta América!".
  • The Biden campaign has out-spent the Trump campaign by about $500 million to $400 million as of October 21.
  • Biden has run more spots than Trump in the 10 battleground media markets, with a larger share of ads on cable TV.
  • Trump's ads have struggled to show how the country is better off under his administration, with many ads trying to redirect the conversation to attacking Biden.
  • The Biden campaign has targeted older demographics, with spots airing on The Weather Channel and TV One, a network that caters to a predominantly Black audience.

Statistics:

  • 60% of those older than 50 and 61% of Black audiences prefer local news as their preferred news source.
  • Biden has run nearly 48,000 spots in the 10 battleground cities in October, more than twice the roughly 17,000 spots run by Trump.
  • The Trump campaign has spent about 13% of their Weather Channel ads on their opponent, while Biden has run most of their ads on the Network.
  • Trump's campaign has not followed a traditional advertising strategy, preferring to hold rallies and focus on voter turnout to compensate for their spending on ads.
  • The pandemic has made the Trump team more reliant on ads, with the Biden campaign taking advantage of this by spending more on ads and targeting areas where Trump thought he had a strong lead.

Sources:

  • CNN
  • Kantar Media
  • University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Communications
  • Louisiana State University
  • Purdue University
  • Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign data

(CNN) -- Despite the partisan rancor of the past several months, there's at least one issue on which the campaigns of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden agree: Their voters love "The Big Bang Theory."