CTV Political Ad Trends Ahead of the 2024 Election

During election cycles in particular, local marketing becomes a vital part of the media mix, allowing campaigns to deliver tailored messaging to the right groups of voters. And these days, it’s not just physical mailed fliers and linear TV ads — the shift to streaming has provided additional opportunities to reach viewers in specific regions. 

A recent report from Madhive reveals how political campaigns are leveraging connected TV (CTV) not only on a state level, but by congressional district as well. And things really heated up in September, with a notable 489% increase in political CTV ad impressions from August. Political advertising jumped in the days ahead of the debate between VP Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and spiked again mid month.  

A quarter of all political CTV ads in September were focused on the presidential election, 70% of which went to just three states: Michigan (27%), Pennsylvania (24%) and North Carolina (19%). Madhive reports that campaigns are mostly going broad and targeting young voters (ages 18-24) and the overarching 35+ demographic. 

On the congressional district level, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina own many of the top 25, but Nebraska’s 02 district stands out, ranking sixth by presidential ads. This district has a history of being more evenly matched than the rest of the state for Republican vs. Democrat, something campaigns are clearly taking advantage of in hopes of swaying voters. Wisconsin’s fourth congressional district, which was won by each of the Democratic presidential candidates in the last 20 years, is also an outlier, ranking No. 13. 

Looking at political CTV ads overall (not just presidential focused), California, Florida and Michigan lead at the state level. On the congressional district level, Montana owns the top two (02 and 01), followed by Wisconsin’s 04 and New Hampshire’s 01.  

Ads related to Prop 33, which would repeal a rental housing act that imposes limits on rent control ordinances in California, are a key driver of CTV impressions in that state. Madhive notes, “While it’s unclear who is funding this push to vote no on Prop 33, there are clear financial implications either way and many parties may have incentive to push advertising strategies that influence the vote.”