Political advertising from this
year’s midterm-focused elections will rise 9% in revenue from the previous midterm results (2022) to $13.8 billion, according to estimates from Madison & Wall.
The projected gain
shows a slowdown in overall political ad spend.
Ad spend for the 2024 Presidential election year showed a 13% increase ($15.9 billion) versus the 2020 election year ($14.1 billion).
According to the analysis, 50% of the expected political advertising take will go to all digital platforms (internet, social media) — up from 46% in the 2024 election period. Local TV’s
share will sink to 36% from 40% share in 2024.
This year’s gain is partly attributable to new Republican money directed to unseat specific Senate and House of Representatives who are not
fully aligned with the goals of the Trump Administration.
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Other earlier estimates show lesser overall political revenues — $10.8 billion from AdImpact (September 2025) — but higher growth of
20% over 2022. A Kinetiq projection is that the market will see a total of $10.4 billion.
AdImpact expects local TV to get between $5.2 billion to $5.3 billion, with connected TV/streaming —
the fastest growing segment — at $2.5 billion.
The Trade Desk (The Current) estimates cable networks will see between $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion for this period. Digital media (internet,
video, social media, display) to be at $1.0 billion to $1.2 billion.
