Editor's note: Here's the fifth installment of the 2016 Presidential Campaign Ad Scorecard, a comprehensive view of spending across broadcast, cable and satellite TV as well as radio. The charts you see below represent a collaboration between the Ad Age Datacenter -- specifically, Kevin Brown, Bradley Johnson and Catherine Wolf -- and Kantar Media's Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG). Some context from Ad Age's Simon Dumenco follows. --Ken Wheaton
• Because our charts offer a cumulative view of ad spending (starting April 5, 2015), the dropouts -- Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie and Marco Rubio -- are still included.
• Mr. Rubio and pro-Rubio PACs came surprisingly close to blowing as much cash on TV and radio ads as Mr. Bush. The final total for Mr. Bush was $80.2 million vs. $70.2 million for Mr. Rubio (possibly subject to slight adjustment if the Rubio campaign is able to recoup on some advance buys).
More notes below the charts...
| Presidential Campaigns | Ad Spend by Candidate | Ad Spend by PACs* | Total | PACs and advocacy groups* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeb Bush | $4,620,417 | $75,602,270 |
$80,222,687
|
Right to Rise USA |
| 2 | Marco Rubio | $17,666,300 | $52,582,834 |
$70,249,134
|
American Opportunity PAC; Baby Got PAC; Conservative Solutions PAC; Conservative Solutions Project |
| 3 | Bernie Sanders | $53,719,080 | $364,133 |
$54,083,213
|
Friends of the Earth Action; Communications Workers of America; National Nurses United for Patient Protection |
| 4 | Hillary Clinton | $50,163,411 | $1,554,204 |
$51,717,615
|
Priorities USA Action; Naral Pro-choice America |
| 5 | Ted Cruz | $14,352,516 | $16,558,730 |
$30,911,246
|
Courageous Conservatives PAC; Keep the Promise I & III; Lone Star Committee; Stand for Truth; Stand for Truth PAC; Trusted Leadership PAC |
| 6 | Anti-Donald Trump | $22,420,427 |
$22,420,427
|
American Future Fund; Club for Growth; Club for Growth Action; Make America Awesome; Our Principles PAC | |
| 7 | Chris Christie | $771,006 | $17,708,961 |
$18,479,967
|
America Leads |
| 8 | John Kasich | $2,639,740 | $14,918,095 |
$17,557,835
|
New Day for America; New Day Independent Media Committee |
| 9 | Donald Trump | $16,908,735 | $24,780 |
$16,933,515
|
Florida for Trump; Great America PAC (TrumPAC) |
| 10 | Ben Carson | $5,356,382 | $410,603 |
$5,766,985
|
Black America's PAC Action Fund; Our Children's Future; The 2016 Committee |
Source: Ad Age analysis of data from Kantar Media's CMAG.
Spending and ad buys (future buys subject to change) for president campaigns from April 5, 2015, through March 26, 2016, as of March 17, 2016.
Pay structures differ for candidates and PACs. Candidates pay the lowest unit rate. PACs pay whatever the market will bear.
*Includes political action committees and advocacy groups. **Some of the PACs listed as opposed to Donald Trump also spent money related to other candidates' campaigns.
• Anti-Donald Trump PAC TV and radio ad spending has overtaken the spending by ill-fated candidate Chris Christie and pro-Christie PACs. In our last chart, anti-Trump spending totaled $17.3 million; now it's up to $22.4 million.
• As always, our charts, which were designed by Ad Age Digital Content Producer Chen Wu, are interactive. Click on the arrows in the first chart to sort and resort. And hover over the second chart to get drill-down data. You can also select and deselect individual candidates (by clicking on the color block next to their names) in the second chart to include or exclude them from view.
