With the presidential election less than a week away, both candidates are easing back their advertising in seven key swing states: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
McCain increased his ad units by small margins in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Virginia on Thursday, Oct. 30. He reduced the number of ad units he ran in Colorado by 1.5%, in Georgia by 31.9%, in Missouri by 1.8%, and in Ohio by 3.8%.
In comparison, Obama boosted his ad units slightly in Georgia, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Virginia on Thursday. Meanwhile, he reduced the number of ad units he ran in Colorado, Florida, and Ohio by small percentages.
| State | Obama: Ad Units* (10/29/08) | Obama: Ad Units* (10/30/08) | % Growth: Obama Ad Units* (10/29 Vs. 10/30) | McCain: Ad Units* (10/29/08) | McCain: Ad Units* (10/30/08) | % Growth: McCain Ad Units* (10/29 Vs. 10/30) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | 276 | 272 | -1.4% | 65 | 64 | -1.5% |
| Florida | 1,049 | 1,022 | -2.6% | 518 | 567 | 9.4% |
| Georgia | 11 | 12 | 9% | 47 | 32 | -31.9% |
| Missouri | 215 | 221 | 2.8% | 112 | 110 | -1.8% |
| Ohio | 792 | 739 | -6.7% | 423 | 407 | -3.8% |
| Pennsylvania | 514 | 557 | 8.4% | 363 | 396 | 9.1% |
| Virginia | 346 | 371 | 7.2% | 236 | 238 | 0.8% |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (October 29 - 30, 2008). | ||||||
| *Note: Television advertising activity reported includes preliminary commercial occurrences for local and national broadcast TV and syndicated TV. Local cable TV advertising activity is not included. | ||||||
Overall, on Thursday, McCain ran 1,814 total ad units in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia -- up 2.8% from the previous day, in which he ran 1,764 ads.
Obama continues to out-advertise McCain, but he actually reduced his ad units in these states by 0.3% overall -- from 3,203 units on Wednesday to 3,194 units on Thursday, Oct. 30.
On Wednesday, Obama ran 82% more ad units than McCain in these seven states, but by Thursday that lead had shrunk to 76% -- or a margin of 1,380 ad units.
Between Oct. 6 and Oct. 30, Obama placed 142% more ad units (74,557 vs. 30,821) than McCain in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Nielsen’s ad unit data shows preliminary commercial occurrences and may fluctuate from day to day, as data is updated.
Stay tuned on NielsenWire for daily political ad updates from the swing states.
