Political TV Campaign Spending Soars in Final Weeks
With midterm elections less than two weeks away, political TV advertising is surging. Spending on House races reached $3.7 billion through October 12, up more than 30% from the comparable period in 2024 (a Presidential election year). Senate races account for $2.3 billion, while House spending has jumped 50% to nearly $1.5 billion. Broadcast remains a major beneficiary, with AdImpact tracking more than 2.8 million political ad airings this cycle. Campaigns have an increasing number of media options available to them, but when the stakes are high, and there’s money to spend, TV continues to capture a substantial share. (TelevisionNewsDaily: October 15, 2026)
Basketball Viewers Respond to In-Game Advertising
With the NBA season now underway, it’s useful to look back at 2025-26 and the sport’s value beyond delivering a big audience. According to EDO, ads during basketball programming generated 4.1 times the impact of the average primetime and cable ad last season, up 13% from 2024-2025. The NBA Finals were the standout, with ads generating 132 times the primetime average impact. WNBA ads were 80% more impactful, and the NCAA women’s championship delivered 80% more. There’s plenty of reason to be optimistic about basketball’s ability to deliver again this season. (EDO: October 15, 2026)
Linear TV Delivers Most TV Ad Exposure
Where Americans watch TV and where they’re exposed to TV advertising are increasingly two different things. Streaming now accounts for a substantial share of viewing, but Comscore’s new Score Report finds that it represented just 22.3% of measurable TV ad exposure time in August. Broadcast accounted for 43.2% and cable another 34.5%, totaling nearly 78% of measured TV ad exposure. Streaming is closing the gap, with its share rising from 16.1% a year ago, but the disparity remains important. Viewing share alone doesn’t necessarily reflect where consumers are actually seeing commercials. (GlobeNewswire: October 21, 2026)
MRC’s Radio Decisions Could Affect TV
The Media Rating Council has revoked accreditation for Nielsen’s Portable People Meter measurement in four radio markets and denied pending applications in 18 other markets, including New York, Boston, Dallas, and San Francisco. This is meaningful to television advertisers because Nielsen is beginning to incorporate the same wearable PPM technology in its TV measurement to better capture co-viewing. Nielsen’s national Big Data + Panel TV service remains MRC-accredited, but the decision highlights the growing scrutiny around the technology used to determine who’s actually watching and, ultimately, who sees an advertiser’s message. (MediaPost: October 17, 2026)
Today In Video History
October 22, 1939 – The NFL’s TV Debut
Live from Ebbets Field in picturesque Brooklyn, NBC broadcast a matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Brooklyn Dodgers. (Yes, there was a football team called the Dodgers for a little while there. Not to be confused with the Brooklyn Dodgers that moved to LA.) The telecast was an experiment available only to viewers in New York City and Albany; regular broadcasts of NFL games wouldn’t begin until 1951, TWELVE years later!
Sorry, Philly readers… The Dodgers won 23-14. Experience some moments from the game in all their Kinescoped glory.
