Update: Election Cycle Spending Hit Record $11.07 Billion, Says AdImpact.

The counting of ad dollars, like votes, apparently continues. AdImpact has released an updated tally of total advertising spending during the 2024 election cycle, and its record-setting total keeps getting larger. It now calculates that $11.07 billion was spent on political ads during the cycle that began in January 2023. That is up from $10.86 billion in political spending released in its preliminary count.

Three cities in battleground states got the most ad dollars of any markets nationwide. The report says Philadelphia came out on top with $476 million in total ad spending across all media thanks to not only Pennsylvania’s competitive position in the Presidential race, but a tight race for the commonwealth’s U.S. Senate seat. It had $335 million in spending, according to AdImpact’s count.

Detroit was the market with the second-highest total in ad spending, at $378 million, while Phoenix was third, with $336 million.

AdImpact says Vice President Kamala Harris may not have joined the Presidential race until late July, but her campaign quicky ramped up its advertising outreach. By the end of the election, no candidate spent more than Harris. It says her campaign spent $545 million. Future Forward USA, a Democratic Party-aligned super PAC, was second, with $475 million in spending. President-elect Trump’s main super PAC, MAGA Inc., ranked third, with $386 million in total ad expenditures.

AdImpact says that for the first time in decades, broadcast television pocketed less than half of the total spent. It calculates that TV had a 49.6% share of political ad buys. While lower than in the past, the increase in total spending softened the block, and broadcast TV ended up with $5.33 billion in total political ad dollars. Cable TV’s share also slid back, while CTV spending increased 8% compared to the 2022 election despite becoming the second most expensive media type.

AdImpact says digital spending totaled $1.58 billion during the 2024 election cycle. The Presidential race made up the largest share at $616 million, followed by the Ohio U.S. Senate race ($37 million) and the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race ($28 million). The biggest digital advertiser was the Harris campaign, which spent $119 million on digital ads, followed by Harris Victory Fund PAC, which spent $106 million.