According to Nielsen research, 1.8 million people in the Tampa Bay area will likely participate in the upcoming election on November 8th. To sway these voters, candidates and political action committees are expected to spend a record amount on advertising.

AdImpact, a company that measures advertising expenditures by political campaigns, says more than $3.6 billion have been spent to reach voters so far in 2022. This puts spending on a course to obliterate the record level of campaign dollars set during the 2020 presidential elections.

Despite crumbling ratings, through August 1st, 58% of all political spending has been dished out to local TV stations, according to AdImpact.

Nielsen reports that since 2017, the reach of broadcast TV stations like WFLA, WTSP, WTVT, WFTS, and WEDU has decayed by 10%.

No matter which Tampa Bay television station or cable channel adults tune to in 2022, they can expect to be assaulted by a deluge of political advertising. Often entire commercial breaks are stuffed with back-to-back pleas and promises to secure viewers' votes.

But is advertising on WFLA, WTSP, WTVT, or WFTS, the most effective way to reach likely voters in the Tampa Bay area? Or is advertising on cable channels provided by Xfinity, DISH, DirecTV, and Spectrum the way to go?

The answer is neither. According to research from Nielsen, the best way to reach local adults who are most likely to vote is by advertising on Tampa Bay radio.

Every week, 1.4 million likely voters will listen to Tampa Bay radio stations. This is significantly more than watch local TV, cable, and streaming video. More that use social media and streaming audio. More than will read newspapers.

Based on projections from the National Retail Federation (NRF), Tampa Bay consumers are on track to spend $46.3-billion with retailers by the end of this year. This would be 13.5% higher than was spent in 2020.

To earn a significant share of these retail dollars, Tampa Bay area business owners are expected to spend $1.6 billion to advertise by year's end, according to Borrell Associates. This company tracks advertising expenditures in local markets across the U.S.

To ensure they are spending their advertising and marketing dollars wisely, many Tampa Bay business owners research how to best target prospective customers by using local media. An exceptional resource for local business owners to investigate the media habits of localconsumers is on the advice section of AdvertiseInTampaBay.com.  

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