Yup, you saw a LOT of ads

From the Wisconsin Advertising Project

OBAMA DOMINATED TELEVISION ADVERTISING IN OHIO

Despite Coming Up Short, Obama Outspent Clinton almost Two-to-One

ONE-FIFTH OF CLINTON’S ADS HAD NEGATIVE CONTENT

Repub’s Remain Virtually Silent; McCain, Huckabee Aired No Ads

MADISON, WI – Barack Obama spent nearly twice as much money on TV advertising in Ohio than did Hillary Clinton. Despite both candidates hitting the airwaves on February 12th, the Obama campaign enjoyed a solid advantage in the number of spots aired throughout the duration of the Ohio campaign.

In the high-profile Ohio presidential primary campaign, the campaigns of the two Democratic candidates for president aired over 16,000 spots, spending approximately $6.8 million. Obama outspent Clinton by a margin of nearly two-to-one, with the Illinois Senator spending over $4.4 million to air just over 10,000 spots. Clinton spent $2.3 million and aired just over six thousand spots. Republicans were largely absent in Ohio; neither John McCain nor Mike Huckabee aired a single ad leading up to the Ohio primary.

Interest group spending became a factor in the short Ohio campaign as well with three groups spending money advertising on behalf of the Democratic presidential candidates.

American Leadership Project (ALP), a 527 group supporting Clinton, spent over $80,000 and aired over 175 ads. Obama saw more advertising on his behalf, with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) spending over $1 million combined to air nearly 2,500 spots. Groups supporting Obama ran more ads than groups supporting Senator Clinton in every media market. These advertisements accounted for just over 15 percent of the total advertising in the state.
Overall, advertising in the Democratic primary produced over 19,000 spots, costing approximately $8 million.

Over one-fifth of Clinton’s advertisements contained negative content, while less than five percent of Obama’s ads were negative. All these ads drew contrasts between the two Democratic candidates. In general, the tone of the campaign was positive, with the vast majority of ads from both campaigns promoting their candidate. The "3am phone call" ads did not air in Ohio media markets, but did receive extensive coverage on the news.

These are among the findings of a new report from the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project that analyzed data obtained from the TNS Media Intelligence Campaign Media Analysis Group (TNSMI/CMAG). The report, supported by the Joyce Foundation and the Midwest Democracy Network, analyses political television advertising in seven Ohio media markets (Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, Dayton, Youngstown, Charleston) from February 1 to March 4.

"We saw some significant differences between Ohio and Wisconsin", says Ken Goldstein, a political science professor and the director of the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project.

"Although Clinton was outspent on the air in Ohio as well, it was by a two to one margin and not the five to one margin we saw in Wisconsin. Also, in Ohio, the Clinton campaign was up at the same time as Obama and was not dark for the first week of the contest like in Wisconsin."

Goldstein also noted, "We saw the first significant outside group buys in Ohio. Union supporters of Barack Obama aired over a million dollars in advertising and comprised about 15% of the total ad spending." As the campaign continues and as we head into the general election, we should expect to see more groups airing ads and comprising an increasing proportion of the political messages seen on TV.

The study also found:

• Except for the BCRA disclaimer taking responsibility for her ad, Clinton narrated less than one-fifth of her ads, while over 60 percent of all Obama ads featured the Illinois Senator speaking on his own behalf.

• Both Democrats focused most of their advertising on the issues of jobs, health care, and trade.

• Obama advertised heaviest in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus while Clinton directed most of her ads to the Youngstown, Columbus and Cleveland markets. The Obama campaign out aired Clinton in every media market except Youngstown.

• The Clinton campaign mentioned NAFTA 1,190 times in their advertisements, while the Obama campaign mentioned NAFTA 1,108 times.

• Senator Obama aired twice as many unique ads as Senator Clinton.
Total By Market Airings Money Spent

Cleveland 3,776 2,700,000
Columbus 3,445 1,600,000
Cincinnati 3,383 1,500,000
Dayton 2,377 750,000
Toledo 2,605 650,000
Youngstown 2,691 600,000
Charleston, WV 731 150,000

CITE SOURCE OF DATA IN TABLE AS:
TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG with analysis by the Wisconsin Advertising Project