Donald Trump has decided that free media alone will not be enough to win the 2016 presidential election.

Mr. Trump's campaign has ordered broadcast TV ads totaling $4 million over the next two weeks in the battleground states of Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Ohio. The first spots will air on Friday. An additional $900,000 worth of cable TV ads in those states has also been placed.

Mr. Trump, who has eschewed ad spending in favor of free media coverage to fuel his outsider campaign, has fallen over the past few weeks in most recent swing state and national polls. While Hillary Clinton and the super-PACs supporting have spent heavily on TV advertising during the Olympic games, Mr. Trump has yet to counter.

The Trump campaign's ad buy will run until Aug. 29, but he won't have the airwaves all to himself. Sec. Clinton is slated to spend $17 million and the pro-Clinton super-PAC Priorities USA has committed $5 million during roughly the identical time period in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Nevada, Iowa, New Hampshire and Nebraska.

-- Bloomberg News