Donald Trump Won the White House Despite Being Outspent 9-1 on Cable TV

By Chris Ariens 

The cable news networks not only had record ratings during the 2016 campaign, they will likely see record revenue, some of that from campaign advertising.

But in new data from Viamedia, which manages advertising across cable TV, found that Hillary Clinton‘s campaign and the super PACs that supported her, heavily outspent Donald Trump and his super PACs by 9-1 on cable.

The pro-Clinton ad spend “just wasn’t enough to overcome the earned (free) media strategy adopted by the populist Trump campaign,” said Mark Lieberman, Viamedia president & CEO.

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Viamedia also found that an increasing use of data and targeting could have dealt a winning hand to several congressional candidates.

Sen. Marco Rubio, who won with 52 percent of the Florida vote, outspent his Democratic rival, Rep. Patrick Murphy, 59 percent to 41 percent on cable TV. Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey won his race by just 1.7 percent over Katie McGinty, but he outspent her 94 percent to 6 percent on cable.

“Political advertisers during this unprecedented election cycle have embraced the uniqueness of the data and geo-targeting capability of local cable to reach the right voters effectively,” said Lieberman.

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