Political advertising spend is projected to reach nearly $11 billion this year, with streaming/CTV expected to account for 24% of the total cycle spending and the only media type expected to see an increase from 2024.1 Additionally, major primaries in states like California, Kentucky, and Texas are tracking towards record-breaking spending cycles, with ad budgets increasingly shifting toward streaming and CTV.1
This trend signifies how political advertisers are looking to the medium to ensure they reach potential voters as audiences further shift to streaming as a main source for media consumption.
With the 2026 midterms approaching, political advertisers and agencies need to understand why TV is still the most powerful tool to connect with voter audiences and how streaming – when underpinned by deterministic data – provides the reach, precision, and performance needed to secure results on Election Day.
Reaches voters across premium content
TV remains the most trusted and influential source for political information—building credibility and driving action other media don’t match. Comcast Advertising research finds potential voters are +60% more likely to get information via TV than social media, and they have nearly 3X more confidence in TV’s accuracy versus social.2
For political advertisers, placing campaign messaging in brand-safe, premium TV inventory—on the biggest screen in the house—is key to driving engagement and impact. Research shows TV ads deliver the strongest memory impact, with unaided recall 2.2X higher than ads seen on social media.3 News and live events attract highly engaged audiences, and sports can be especially effective for reaching hard-to-reach voters, including younger voters.
Working with partners that enable political advertisers to better secure the right streaming inventory can make the difference in reaching potential voters at scale across local and national markets to drive impact.
Targets specific households with precision
When it comes to political advertising, it’s all about ensuring that the right message reaches the right voter audiences. That level of accuracy is critical and can only be achieved by a foundation that’s built on deterministic data.
When campaigns are powered by authenticated audience data – or deterministic sources like postal address, which lends 95% match rates – it enables household-level voter segments, ensuring advertisers can reach specific audiences with precision and purpose. By marrying first-party deterministic data with industry voter segments, candidates can ensure their ads reach potential voters based on things like party affiliation, likelihood of voting, age range, and more wherever they are watching the content they love. The ability to activate campaigns built on this data programmatically then enables political advertisers to reach those precise audiences even down to narrow, congressional level district elections.
The precision of programmatic also makes it possible for advertisers to tailor creative based on messaging that will resonate most with distinct voter segments – down to a hyper local level, which is imperative for this year’s midterm cycle.
Offers transparent attribution to understand performance
Political advertising that has a consistent, deterministic household identity rooted in first-party data means that a campaign message will reach the same verified household across any type of media activation whether traditional, streaming, programmatic, or addressable. This makes it possible for political advertisers that work with FreeWheel to gain further insights by unveiling performance in real-time like where TV ad exposure is occurring, where it’s lacking, where competitors are active, and where opportunities exist so that political advertisers can better adapt their strategy.
And because it’s built on the same foundation of deterministic data, the ability to measure and understand the performance becomes much easier – removing the guesswork for advertisers as they try to figure out what is working and what is not so they can optimize your media mix with confidence.
Powering smarter campaigns for the 2026 midterms
As advertisers face challenges trying to reach fragmented audiences, CTV cuts through and continues to shape voter understanding and trust. Campaigns that invest in premium streaming can earn credibility, and capture attention in ways that social channels can’t match. When it comes to political advertising, this ability can make all the difference at the polls.
With the 2026 midterms heating up, political advertisers need a programmatic partner that can bring premium streaming together in a fragmented marketplace. FreeWheel helps unify access to premium streaming supply while incorporating priority data partners to match campaigns with the audiences that matter most—at national scale and with maximum precision down to the congressional district level. That combination of reach, data, and programmatic activation gives campaigns the speed and confidence to connect with voters in the moments that matter most.
Sources:
- AdImpact, Political Projections, 2025-2026, September 2025.
- Comcast Advertising survey conducted by Dynata, n=2319, December 2025.
- Comcast Advertising, TV Make Memories: Why TV Is the Catalyst for Brand Impact and Consumer Action, March 2026.
