Democratic presidential candidates Mike Bloomberg and Tom Steyer, still way down in the polls, are continuing to spend big over the last month when it comes to TV advertising.
The Tom
Steyer 2020 campaign has spent $17.3 million on national/regional TV commercials, while the Mike Bloomberg 2020 campaign has spent $13.8 million for the period from Nov. 26 through Dec. 25, according
to iSpot.tv.
The media research company counts 16 different creatives for Steyer, totaling some 3,836 airings of those commercials, with Bloomberg at five creatives and 960 airings.
Steyer announced his candidacy in July 2019 after resigning from backing a “Need To Impeach” campaign. Bloomberg entered the race in November -- late among Democratic candidates,
according to analysts. In the near term, Bloomberg intends to spend some $37 million.
Over the last two months -- Oct. 24 through Dec. 24 -- Steyer and Bloomberg have dominated all national TV
spending. Steyer has spent $29.4 million, while Bloomberg has spent $15.2 million. The Donald Trump for President campaign has spent $552,571, and Pete Buttigieg’s Pete for America campaign has
spent $119,774.
advertisement
advertisement
Overall during the period, $45.6 million has been spent on national/regional TV.
Bloomberg, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll conducted on Dec. 16, is
getting 7% of the vote among Democratic and independent voters, with Steyer at 1%.
Former Vice President Joe Biden leads all Democratic candidates with 30%.
Over the
last two months, the biggest shows in terms of impressions of all political ads were the major TV news programs: “ABC World News Tonight,” “CBS This Morning,” “NBC
Nightly News,” CBS’ “60 Minutes,” “CBS Evening News” and NBC’s “Today.”
But in terms of estimates for TV spending, entertainment spending
is high on the list.
CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” came in at $2.18 million (30 airings), followed by CBS’ “Late Late Show with James Corden”
with $1.7 million (30 airings); NBC’s “The Voice,” $1.4 million (7 airings); NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” $1.3 million (14 airings); and ABC’s
“Jimmy Kimmel Live” at $900,000, (17 airings).