Pittsburgh Has Seen More Political TV Ads Than Anywhere Else [View all]

Source: Bloomberg

November 2, 2024 at 11:31 AM EDT


Pittsburgh viewers tuning into Monday Night Football this week watched their Steelers beat the New York Giants — and 26 political ads. That’s just a small slice of the roughly 2,300 political ads the typical Pittsburgh household has seen on television this year, according to AdImpact, more than any other market in the country.

The nonstop political onslaught for viewers, however, means a windfall for the stations. The local ABC affiliate broadcasting Monday’s game charged as much $150,000 for a single 30-second ad, an astronomical sum for the market.

Pittsburgh is the most extreme example of a phenomenon happening in swing states across the country: Campaigns and their allies are buying so many political ads that local businesses — the personal injury lawyers, car dealers and furniture stores that are usually staples of local news commercial breaks — often can’t reserve any airtime even if they could afford the inflated rates. Advertising agencies call it “Admageddon.”

For viewers, local advertisers and even down-ballot candidates who can’t afford the premium rates that national campaigns will pay, the deluge of ads is an oppressive and sometimes unbearable force hanging over the city like the haze from its bygone steel foundries. “The advertising is out of control. Most of them are psycho, super negative, ridiculous ads,” said Elizabeth Renshaw, 69, from the Pittsburgh suburb of Forest Hills last week. “It makes watching TV difficult.”

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-02/us-election-pittsburgh-has-most-political-ads-of-all-tv-markets