Record midterm political ad spending is driving up CPMs and causing inventory pre-emptions for regional advertisers on linear and CTV platforms. This surge is forcing non-political advertisers to shift budgets toward ad-free streaming services or pause campaigns, further tightening inventory availability during the critical fourth quarter.
The surge in midterm political ad spending creates a temporary but severe supply-side shock for regional advertisers during the highest-revenue quarter of the year. As political PACs exercise pre-emption rights on linear TV, non-political brands are migrating to premium CTV platforms like Amazon Prime Video and Disney+, which do not accept political ads. This migration is artificially inflating prices on these 'safe haven' platforms, effectively raising the floor for streaming CPMs across the board. The shift forces local marketers to choose between margin-eroding costs or losing critical holiday sales momentum. Watch for whether these elevated CTV pricing floors persist after the November 3rd election cycle concludes.
Broadcasters are already looking toward local TV workflow automation to mitigate the volatility seen in this election cycle.
Record midterm political ad spending is causing a supply-side shock, driving linear CPMs up by 15% in battleground states and as much as 50% for specific programming. As political campaigns dominate local markets, regional advertisers are migrating to premium CTV platforms, artificially inflating streaming CPMs during the critical fourth-quarter holiday season.
Linear CPMs in Texas have risen between 10% and 15%, with some specific programming experiencing price spikes of up to 50%.
Regional advertisers are migrating to platforms like Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video to avoid inventory pre-emptions caused by political campaigns on linear TV and to reach audiences in a stable, non-political ad environment.
YouTube CPMs have climbed approximately 20% as political campaigns increasingly prioritize video advertisements over social display formats.
Political clients spent $149 million on YouTube and Meta during the week of October 11th, representing a 338% increase compared to late July.
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