The University of Wisconsin's Ken Goldstein is out with his eagerly awaited analysis of presidential campaign TV advertising in 2007-8, and here are the highlights:
** The candidates spent more than $107m on ads. Mitt Romney spent three times as many ads as his nearest opponents -- 35,000 separate spots costing him $29M, while Barack Obama has spent about $5M more than Hillary Clinton.
** The only candidate who has not aired a negative television ad: Barack Obama.
** Third party groups spent a combined total of $3M to influence the presidential race.
** Mike Huckabee and John Edwards are singled out for running ads that name their opponents.
** $43M worth of television ads aired in Iowa.
** Through last Sunday, only $3M worth of ads had been aired in the Super Tuesday states.
** Interesting factor: Barack Obama narrated more than 80% of his own ads, compared to less than 50% for Sen. Hillary Clinton.
(All data is courtesy of TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG with analysis by the Wisconsin Advertising Project)
