Vice President Kamala Harris. White House photo.

Former President Donald Trump and his supporters have increased their focus on television advertising over the past month, with pro-Trump ads appearing more frequently nationwide than ads supporting the president Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harrisaccording to a recent analysis.

However, the study also found that the frequency of Harris ads exceeded that of Trump ads in at least two of Wisconsin’s major media markets.

According to the Wesleyan Media Project, television ads supporting Trump have aired nearly 44,000 times across the country since mid-July, while ads supporting Biden and Harris have aired about 33,000 times.

Unsurprisingly, the study found that both sides invested their resources in closely contested swing states, with most of the money going to media markets in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia last month. But Wisconsin in particular appears to be a focus area for Harris’ campaign right now.

In the Milwaukee and Green Bay areas, pro-Biden and pro-Harris presidential ads were shown more frequently than pro-Trump ads.

Democrats also spent more money than Republicans in these areas. In the Green Bay market, for example, the study estimated that Democrats spent $2.3 million on television advertising – more than twice as much as Trump’s campaign spent in that area.

That suggests Harris’ campaign is focused on the Badger State – at least for now – said Michael FranzCo-director of the Wesleyan Media Project.

“At least at this early stage of the election, it looks like Democrats think Wisconsin is too important to triage,” Franz said.

The project’s most recent four-week analysis focused on broadcast television spending, which primarily included ad buys through major network partners. It did not include spending on cable television or digital ad buys on platforms such as YouTube or streaming services.

Franz acknowledged that the report does not tell the “complete and comprehensive story” of campaign spending.

However, he pointed out that in the past, election campaigns had allocated a large part of their budgets to broadcast television.

“Television is still important, primarily because it reaches a lot of voters,” he said. “Media markets have a broad geographic reach and the audience for broadcast television, live television, tends to be older. These voters tend to be reliable turnout in election campaigns and are therefore critical.”

While Trump and the Republicans broadcast more advertising nationwide, the study also found that Democrats spent significantly more money on it.

Between July 12 and August 11, Democrats spent $62.6 million on presidential campaign television broadcasts, while Republicans spent $49.4 million, according to the study.

Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris on July 21.

Listen to the WPR report

Trump’s campaign is airing more TV ads nationwide, but Harris continues to focus on Wisconsin was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.