• by Wayne Friedman , May 3, 2023

Republican SuperPACs linked to potential campaigns and ones that have been announced for President -- Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis -- have started or increased national TV advertising over the last 30 days.

Trump's SuperPAC (political action committee) "Make America Great Again" has spent $1.97 million since March 31 -- coming from 584 equivalent 30-second airings, resulting in 472.6 million impressions, according to estimates from iSpot.tv.

The vast majority of impressions are from Fox News Channel (391.1 million), followed by CNN (66.0 million); Newsmax (9.6 million), MSNBC (1.6 million); and NewsNation (364,389).

Potential candidate Ron DeSantis’ SuperPAC "Never Back Down" is at $1.26 million in national TV spend so far after just two weeks on the air (April 16) -- from 396 equivalent 30-second airings, amounting to 277.4 million impressions.

Like Trump, much of DeSantis' SuperPAC impressions came from Fox News Channel (129.7 million), followed by HGTV (14.1 million), History Channel (13.4 million), ESPN (9.6 million); Newsmax TV (6.3 million), Fox Business (3.3 million), and CNBC (3.3 million) following.

Since the beginning of the year, the biggest spender in the political/election category has been the ACLU -- at $3.5 million, from 10,052, equivalent 30-second airings, and 180.8 million impressions. Much of its campaign comes from MSNBC (77.8 million impressions). Its creative --  “Promise of Our Constitution” -- focuses on the dangers of Americans' Constitutional rights being taken away.