MSNBC’s First Read has the weekly rundown of the hottest political ad markets for the week ahead. Plenty of red meat again this week with the introduction of the Republican National Committee announcing its presence with authority and Crossroads GPS building on its return to the fray last week. These combined third-party pro-Romney entities outspend the Obama campaign in nearly every market, and that’s before adding in the official Romney campaign spends. Colorado again dominates the priorities with a clean sweep of medals holding down the top three spots — an impressive feat and a first since we’ve been tracking this. Virginia unsurprisingly holds the next two spots while Ohio again takes a little bit of a breather holding only one of the top 10 spots for the second straight week. Florida slides down the charts with 2 markets in the bottom half of the top 10 after having two in the top 5 last week. New Hampshire makes its first appearance due to the strong buys from the RNC and Crossroads bolstering tepid buys from Obama and Romney. Charlotte, North Carolina (home of the Democrat National Convention) is the Tar Heel state’s lone representative thanks to spending by pro-Romney groups, not pro-Obama groups. Has the Obama campaign begun pulling up stakes in North Carolina? We think so.
Below are this week’s 10 hottest TV markets in the presidential contest (in terms of advertising points from July 16-July 22).
| Hottest Markets for the week 7/16-7/22 | Hottest Markets for the week 7/09-7/15 |
|---|---|
| 1. Denver, CO (Obama 975, Romney 840, RNC 620, Crossroads 520, Priorities 150) 2. Colorado Springs, CO (Romney 950, Obama 930, Crossroads 700, RNC 300, Priorities 185) 3. Grand Junction, CO (Obama 930, Romney 820, Crossroads 745, RNC 275) 4. Roanoke, VA (Obama 930, Romney 630, Crossroads 600, RNC 470) 5. Richmond, VA (Obama 860, Romney 775, RNC 370, Crossroads 360, Priorities 240) 6. Charlotte, NC (Romney 915, Obama 750, RNC 570, Crossroads 370) 7. Tampa, FL (Romney 875, Obama 711, Crossroads 690, Priorities 185) 8. Columbus, OH (Romney 815, Obama 765, Crossroads 360, RNC 350, Priorities 140) 9. Boston-Manchester, NH (RNC 1000, Crossroads 550, Obama 550, Romney 225) 10. Orlando, FL (Romney 830, Obama 800, Crossroads 615, Priorities 130) |
1. Colorado Springs, CO (Romney 1,000, Obama 985, Crossroads 430, AFP 200, Priorities 155) 2. Grand Junction, CO (Obama 975, Romney 820, Crossroads 450, AFP 330) 3. Tampa, FL (Romney 920, Obama 765, Crossroads 430, AFP 223. Priorities 185) 4. Denver, CO (Obama 1,000, Romney 860, Crossroads 300, Priorities 150, AFP 140) 5. Orlando, FL (Romney 900, Obama 860, Crossroads 340, AFP 170, Priorities 150) 6. Richmond-Petersburg, VA (Obama 900, Romney 800, Crossroads 200, AFP 180, Priorities 155) 7. Roanoke-Lynchburg, VA (Obama 975, Romney 450, Crossroads 490, AFP 395) 8. Greenville-New Bern, NC (Romney 850, Obama 600, Crossroads 415, AFP 300) 9. Charlotte, NC (Romney 830, Obama 800, Crossroads 275, AFP 200) 10. Cleveland, OH (Obama 915, Romney 650, Crossroads 200, AFP 150, Priorities 120) |
MSNBC First Read take-aways:
- Team Romney (the campaign, the RNC, and Crossroads GPS) is outspending Team Obama (campaign and Priorities USA Action) this week by a 2-to-1 margin in the battleground states, $16 million to $8 million
- According to MSNBC ad-tracking data, the Obama campaign has purchased $7.1 million worth of advertising this week (7/16-7/22), Crossroads GPS $6.1 million, the Romney campaign $6 million (its largest media buy to date in the general election), the RNC $4.4 million, and Priorities USA Action nearly $1 million
- In three battleground states now, the RNC is actually outspending the Romney campaign for this week: North Carolina (RNC $835K vs. Romney $682K), Iowa ($475K vs. $427K), and New Hampshire ($648K vs. $82K)
- The top-three markets are in Colorado
- Markets in Virginia (Roanoke and Richmond) round out the top five
- New Hampshire makes its first appearance on this top-10 list (thanks to 1,000 points by the RNC)
- Most importantly, all the GOP entities are outspending the Obama/Dem entities in these markets
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