Philly 2014 Political Ad Trends Viewer


Trends Viewer: Philly Political Media Watch Project

Welcome to the interactive Trends Viewer tool designed to allow you to explore the data underlying the Philly Political Media Watch Project of the Internet Archive's TV News Archive! From September 1, 2014 through the election of November 4, 2014, 7 television stations in the Philadelphia market were monitored to identify all politically-related advertisements. In all, 74 distinct political advertisements were identified which collectively aired 13,675 times during the 65 day monitoring period. Each advertisement was assessed for time devoted to functional content, using the approach elaborated by William Benoit, Ph.D., most recently in his 2014 book, A Functional Analysis of Political Television Advertisements. Archive staff scored each ad along the dimensions of "Acclaim" (positive comments about candidate), "Attack" (negative comments about opposing candidate), and "Defend" (defending candidate against attacks by opposing candidate), along with typing up a transcript of its spoken content. A similar approach was taken by a team at the University of Delaware's Center for Community Research and Service lead by Associate Professor Danilo Yanich, in their study, Political Ads & Local TV News - Philly 2014.

Note that you will find some oddities in the data due to the way in which the human coding cataloged the advertisements. Each ad was categorized with the name of the primary candidate discussed, meaning that an attack ad run by one candidate against another will be cataloged under the second one's name, even if the other half of the advertisement lauds the candidate running the ad. This will yield nuanced results, such as comparing the ads focusing on Aimee Belgard vs those sponsored on her behalf.

This tool allows you to interactively explore and visualize the resulting trends (the raw datasets are also available for download). Using the form below, you can select any pair of candidates, parties, races, status, win/lost, sponsor, sponsor type, television channel, or even keywords found in the transcripts, or any combination therein, to compare their respective trends during the 2014 election cycle. If you specify multiple options they will be combined together. For example, you can compare ads focusing on Tom Corbett that were paid by Tom Corbett for Governor vs those paid for by Tom Wolf for Governor. Or, compare all ads mentioning the two candidates from any sponsor. Or ads focusing on candidates that ultimately won vs lost. Or, compare the ads run by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers vs those run by the House Majority PAC. Or, those mentioning "school" vs "job" in the transcript of the ad. Or, simply, view the overall trends for all 13,675 advertisement airings.

Search #1

Use the dropdowns below to select your first query.
You can select multiple options and they will be combined together.

Focal Candidate:
Focal Candidate Party:
Focal Candidate Status:
Focal Race:
Focal Candidate Outcome:
Ad Sponsor:
Ad Sponsor Type:
Television Channel:
Transcript Keyword:


Search #2

Use the dropdowns below to select your second query.
You can select multiple options and they will be combined together.

Focal Candidate:
Focal Candidate Party:
Focal Candidate Status:
Focal Race:
Focal Candidate Outcome:
Ad Sponsor:
Ad Sponsor Type:
Television Channel:
Transcript Keyword:

Select All Advertisements:





Summary Statistics

The four charts below offer a summary of overall trends. See the description under each graph for more detail on what it shows.



Total number of airings of all ads matching your queries

Total airtime of advertisements in minutes, broken down by the functional type expressed: Acclaim (praising the candidate), Attack (attacking the other candidate), or Defend (countering attacks made by the other candidate)



Total airtime (in minutes) of advertisements, broken down by television channel, making it possible to see where advertising time was focused and any differences in the kinds of ads run on each channel. Airtime is further broken down by the functional type expressed: Acclaim (praising the candidate), Attack (attacking the other candidate), or Defend (countering attacks made by the other candidate).



Total airtime (in minutes) of advertisements, broken down by the primary candidate focused on by the ad. An ad may mention multiple candidates, but it is cataloged under the focal candidate that was mentioned the most. Airtime is further broken down by the functional type expressed: Acclaim (praising the candidate), Attack (attacking the other candidate), or Defend (countering attacks made by the other candidate).



Total airtime (in minutes) of advertisements, broken down by the organization paying for the ad, making it possible to see who is paying for ads for/against a given candidate, etc. Airtime is further broken down by the functional type expressed: Acclaim (praising the candidate), Attack (attacking the other candidate), or Defend (countering attacks made by the other candidate).



Total airtime (in minutes) of advertising each candidate ran in shows starting during each hour, making it easy to see what times of day they targeted most heavily



Daily Timeline

The timeline below summarizes the total airtime of advertisements by day over the entire 65 day period, with results for "Tom Corbett" shown to the left of the center line and results for "Tom Wolf" shown to the right. Airtime is further broken down by the functional type expressed: Acclaim (praising the candidate), Attack (attacking the other candidate), or Defend (countering attacks made by the other candidate).




Ad Listing

The thumbnails below show all of the distinct advertisements matching your queries, ordered by how many times each was aired (see the number below each thumbnail). Click on any thumbnail to view a sample airing of that advertisement.

Advertisements Featuring "Tom Corbett"

Times Aired: 382
Times Aired: 293
Times Aired: 290
Times Aired: 260
Times Aired: 178
Times Aired: 159
Times Aired: 135
Times Aired: 95
Times Aired: 51

Advertisements Featuring "Tom Wolf"

Times Aired: 291
Times Aired: 270
Times Aired: 266
Times Aired: 262
Times Aired: 221
Times Aired: 181
Times Aired: 165
Times Aired: 157
Times Aired: 154
Times Aired: 66
Times Aired: 41
Times Aired: 31
Times Aired: 13
Times Aired: 11
Times Aired: 9



Show Listing

The specific television shows that a candidate runs their ads during offers powerful insights into the target demographics being sought by each candidate. The tables below summarize the total number of airings of ads matching your criteria that were run during each television show over the 65 day period. For selected news programming, a preview link is provided to view a sample airing of one of the advertisements that ran during that show.

All Shows Featuring "Tom Corbett"

RankShowAiringsPreview
1Action News125View
2Today87View
3Good Day Philadelphia78View
4Good Morning America76View
5Eyewitness News at 654View
6Fox 29 Morning News at 6a51View
7NBC 10 News at 6pm50View
8Family Feud49
9NBC 10 News at 11p49View
10Eyewitness News at 1145View
11CBS This Morning44View
12Fox 29 News at 1043View
13The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon42
14Action News 600 PM38View
15Eyewitness News at 537View
16Action News at Ten on PHL1736View
17Modern Family35
18Wheel of Fortune34
19Late Show With David Letterman34
20Judge Judy32
21Extra30
22NBC 10 News at 5pm30View
23Jeopardy29
24Good Day Philadelphia at 928View
25Dr. Phil28
26Access Hollywood24
27NBC 10 News Today at 600a23View
28The Insider23
29Jimmy Kimmel Live18
30The Ellen DeGeneres Show18
31NBC 10 News Today at 500a17View
32Action News at 4pm17View
33NBC 10 News at 4pm16View
34FOX 29 News at Five15View
35Judge Mathis14
36Lets Make a Deal13
37Action News 530 PM13View
38NBC 10 News Today at 11a13View
39Eyewitness News at 7am11View
40College Football11
41Entertainment Tonight11
42Fox 29 News at 6PM11View
43CBS This Morning Saturday10View
44NFL Football10
45The Price Is Right9
46The Voice9
47The Doctors8
48The Big Bang Theory8
49Steve Harvey8
50Law Order Special Victims Unit8
51Eyewitness News at 5307View
52Eyewitness News at 8am7View
53Nightline7View
54Eyewitness News on the CW Philly7View
55NBC Nightly News7View
56The Queen Latifah Show7
5760 Minutes7View
58The Peoples Court7
59NBC 10 News Today at 530a6View
60NBC 10 News Today at 430a6View
61Anger Management6
62Football Night in America6
63Live With Kelly and Michael6
64NBC 10 News at 9am6View
65Two and a Half Men6
66CBS News Sunday Morning5View
67Dancing With the Stars5
68TMZ Live5
69Action News 500 PM5View
70The Simpsons5
71Inside Edition5
72Early Today5View
73Americas Got Talent5
74In Depth With Graham Bensinger5
75Action News Weekend4View
76Seinfeld4
77The Blacklist4
78How I Met Your Mother4
79Sports Zone4
80The Bold and the Beautiful4
81Shark Tank4
82Fox 29 Morning News at 4a4View
83The Good Wife4
84Blue Bloods4
85Fox29 Sports Show4
86The Meredith Vieira Show4
87Talk Philly4
88Inside the Eagles4
89The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson4
90Fox Sports Sunday3
91The Office3
92The Biggest Loser3
93Person of Interest3
94Who Wants to Be a Millionaire3
95Daytime Jeopardy3
96Dateline NBC3View
97CSI Crime Scene Investigation3
98NBC 10 High School Blitz3
99Action News at 1130 P3View
100Animation Domination High-Def3
101Action News Weekend 7AM3View
102Fox29 Weekend2
103NBC 10 News at 6am2View
10420/202
105NFL Thursday Night Kickoff2
106American Ninja Warrior2
107White Collar2
108The Young and the Restless2
109NBC 10 News2View
110Madam Secretary2
111The Secret Lives of Pets With Hoda Kotb2
112Days of our Lives2
113La Mission2
114Chicago PD2
115Last Call With Carson Daly2
116NCIS New Orleans2
117Paid Programming2
118NBC 10 News at 10am2View
119CBS Evening News With Scott Pelley2View
120Extant2
121Dish Nation2
122Face the Nation2View
123Action News Weekend 6AM2View
124Eyewitness News Sunday1View
125NFL Kickoff 20141
126Fox 29 Morning News at 5a1View
127NBC 10 News at 7am1View
128Hot Bench1
129Eyewitness News at 6am1View
130Reckless1
131The Middle1
132Bachelor in Paradise1
133Family Guy1
134On the Money1
135The Better Show1
136Under the Dome1
137The Millers1
138Scorpion1
139Under the Lights1
140PHL17s In Focus1
141Scandal1
142The Wendy Williams Show1
143Breakfast with the Candidates1
144The OT1
145Football Night in Philly1
146Bones1
147American Dad1
148Castle1
149Countdown to the CMA Awards 15 Songs That Changed Country Music1
150FOX MLB Pregame Show1
151Eagles Post Game Show1
152Fox 29 Game Day Live1
153Gracepoint1
154Late Night With Seth Meyers1
1551st Look1
156Big Brother1
157Open House1
158NBC 10 News at 530a1View
159Chasing1
160ABC World News Tonight With David Muir1View
161Eagles Game Plan1

All Shows Featuring "Tom Wolf"

RankShowAiringsPreview
1Action News136View
2Today102View
3Eyewitness News at 683View
4Good Day Philadelphia74View
5Good Morning America69View
6Fox 29 News at 1064View
7Family Feud52
8CBS This Morning48View
9Eyewitness News at 546View
10NBC 10 News at 5pm45View
11NBC 10 News at 11p45View
12Judge Judy44
13NBC 10 News at 4pm44View
14Eyewitness News at 1142View
15The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon41
16Good Day Philadelphia at 938View
17Jeopardy38
18Late Show With David Letterman37
19NBC 10 News at 6pm35View
20The Ellen DeGeneres Show34
21FOX 29 News at Five32View
22Dr. Phil32
23Action News 600 PM31View
24Action News at Ten on PHL1731View
25Judge Mathis30
26Modern Family30
27NBC 10 News Today at 600a29View
28Action News 530 PM27View
29Fox 29 Morning News at 6a23View
30The Insider23
31Eye Opener20
32The Price Is Right20
33Lets Make a Deal20
34Access Hollywood20
35Two and a Half Men19
36Talk Philly19
37The Big Bang Theory18
38NBC 10 News Today at 11a18View
39Wheel of Fortune18
40Extra18
41Live With Kelly and Michael18
42Fox 29 News at 6PM17View
43Steve Harvey16
44Action News at 4pm16View
45Jimmy Kimmel Live16
46Eyewitness News on the CW Philly15View
47Fox29 Weekend14
48Despierta America12
49The Good Wife11
50TMZ11
51Who Wants to Be a Millionaire10
52College Football10
53The Young and the Restless9
54Action News 500 PM9View
55Law Order Special Victims Unit9
56TMZ Live9
57Eyewitness News at 7am9View
58CBS News Sunday Morning9View
59NBC Nightly News9View
60Action News Weekend 7AM9View
61NBC 10 News Today at 530a8View
62Eyewitness News at 5308View
63NBC 10 News at 9am8View
64Nightline7View
65NBC 10 News Today at 500a6View
66NBC 10 News Today at 430a6View
67Late Night With Seth Meyers6
68Entertainment Tonight6
69Shark Tank5
70Action News Weekend5View
71Primer Impacto5View
72Noticias 655View
73The Meredith Vieira Show5
74Noticiero 65 Edicion Nocturna5View
75Inside the Eagles5
76Noticiero Univision5View
77Anger Management5
78Americas Got Talent5
79Blue Bloods5
80CBS This Morning Saturday4View
81In Depth With Graham Bensinger4
82NFL Football4
83Fox 29 Morning News at 4a4View
84Seinfeld4
85Animation Domination High-Def4
86The Voice4
87ABC World News Tonight With David Muir4View
88Football Night in America4
89Dancing With the Stars3
90Scandal3
91Rachael Ray3
92Early Today3View
93NBC 10 News at 530a3View
94NCIS Los Angeles3
95The Amazing Race3
96Eyewitness News at 8am3View
97Madam Secretary3
98NBC 10 News at 6am3View
99The Blacklist3
100The Office3
101World Series Pregame3
102How to Get Away With Murder3
103Stalker3
10448 Hours3
105La Gata3
106Under the Dome2
107The Better Show2
108Scorpion2
109The View2
110Resurrection2
111How I Met Your Mother2
112Action News at 1130 P2View
113Inside Edition2
114The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson2
115The Simpsons2
116The Peoples Court2
117Saturday Night Live2
118Days of our Lives2
119Dateline NBC2View
120The Wendy Williams Show2
121Como Dice el Dicho2
122NCIS New Orleans2
123NBC 10 News at 10am2View
124Eyewitness News Saturday2View
125Fox 29 Morning News at 5a2View
126Mike Molly2
127FOX 29 News Special2View
128Chicago Fire2
129NBC 10 News at 7am2View
130Hoy2
131Dish Nation2
132Fox 29 Game Day Live2
133The Chew2
134Daytime Jeopardy2
135Jane the Virgin2
136FOX News Sunday With Chris Wallace2View
137FOX NFL Sunday2
138CSI Crime Scene Investigation2
139Glee1
140Election 2014 In Focus1
141Motorcycle Racing1
142White Collar1
143Eyewitness News at 430am1View
144The Bold and the Beautiful1
145The Mysteries of Laura1
14620/201
147FOX29 News at 111View
148La Malquerida1
149Face the Nation1View
150Action News Weekend 6AM1View
151Sleepy Hollow1
152The Queen Latifah Show1
153Bones1
154FOX MLB Pregame Show1
155Countdown to the CMA Awards 15 Songs That Changed Country Music1
156Nashville1
157Chicago PD1
158Greys Anatomy1
1592014 U.S. Open Tennis1
160NFL Thursday Night Kickoff1
161The Doctors1
162Justice for All With Judge Cristina Perez1
163To Be Announced1
164HouseSmarts1
165Cristela1
166NFL Kickoff 20141
167Fox Sports Sunday1
168Eyewitness News at 6am1View
169Lauren Lakes Paternity Court1
170Americas Next Top Model1
171Arrow1
172WNBA Basketball1
173Quiero Amarte1
174Eagles Game Plan1
175Fox29 Sports Show1
176Castle1
177MLB Baseball1
178NBC 10 High School Blitz1
179Fox29 Sports Sunday1
180High School Huddle1




The Philly Political Media Watch Project

See more information about this project.