Political ad spending in the US in 2024 will reach as much as $12.32 billion. That's 30% more than the last presidential election year, 2020. Most of this spending will be allocated to television, including CTV, according to a recent Insider Intelligence report.
But we all know these ads will only work if they reach their intended audience and that viewer is paying attention. So, the question is, who is paying attention to political ads right now?
TVision analyzed viewer attention and in-room presence by political party and age, across both CTV and linear TV viewing from September 1, 2023 - February 29, 2024 to understand how viewers are engaging with political ads.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
According to data collected from TVision's panel between September 1, 2023 and February 29, 2024, Americans paid more attention to political ads on CTV than other ads. This was true for all age bands, except for the youngest viewers (18-24 year olds). Older viewers, specifically 50-54 year olds paid 22% more attention to political ads than other ads on CTV in the time period.
Republicans were more likely to be in the room (79.9% viewability) when a political ad was airing, and paid more attention (63%) for longer periods of time (18.9 seconds per ad) than Democrats and Independents, during the time period studied.
Interestingly, young female viewers (those between ages 18-34) paid more attention to political ads than their male counterparts, but women (age 35-54) paid less atttention than men to political ads.
While its clear that overall viewers are paying more attention to political ads, certain demographics are even more engaged. During the primary season Republicans paid more attention than Democrats, which is possibly a result of the more competitive Republican primary. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues throughout the election season.
Young women appear to be more engaged than older women, and men of the same age, possibly due to the focus on themes related to women's health and reproductive rights.
Super Pacs, political parties and others interested in targeting ads to viewers based on their political interests and engagement can leverage TVision Audiences to specifically reach these viewers and more. Our political segments include Engaged Republicans, Engaged Democrats, Unengaged Republicans, and Unengaged Democrats.
