In the days leading up to the Super Tuesday primaries this month, viewers of Walt Disney Co.’s Hulu streaming service in Los Angeles saw a blizzard of political ads featuring everything from US Senate candidates to the battle over a city council seat.
Bloomberg reports streaming services have become the fastest-growing outlet for political commercials as media giants have introduced ad-supported versions of their services and become more accepting of the spots.
Where Politicians Are Spending: Streaming services with ads score big gains this election cycle
Political spending on streaming services has nearly quadrupled this election cycle from the same period in 2022, according to data from AdImpact, which tracks campaign outlays. At the current pace, streaming may soon pass cable TV, which is in decline as more customers cancel the product.
Not all streaming companies take ads. Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. don’t accept political ads on their services. Paramount Global, Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. and Comcast Corp., which have all launched ad-supported versions of their services, accept the spots. Hulu, a pioneer in online TV ads, began allowing a wider range of political commercials in 2022.
Streaming services aren’t required to publicly report political ad buys, unlike broadcasters. That makes it harder for campaigns to see what their allies and opponents are spending. But if regulators update the rules, the added visibility may hasten the shift to streaming even more dramatically, Goldberg said.
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