Trump has gotten nearly $3 billion in ‘free’ advertising

Release time: 2016-05-07 author: browse: 61

He’s No. 1 — in ‘free’ advertising. Donald Trump speaks in New York on Tuesday.

Donald Trump has gotten the equivalent of nearly $3 billion in free advertising since last May, according to the latest statistics from the firm mediaQuant, blowing away rivals in both parties.

Trump, who became the presumptive Republican presidential nominee when last rivals Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. John Kasich exited the race, has received the equivalent of more than $2.8 billion in free ads through April. That’s based on media coverage and the equivalent advertising rates.

By comparison, Cruz, who dropped out on Tuesday, has received the equivalent of about $771 million since last May.

The numbers are likely to add fuel to critics’ charges that Trump has gotten too much unpaid air time. Cruz in March said the media was “engaged in a love fest” with Trump — before TV host Anderson Cooper said Cruz had declined offers to be on his CNN program.

The runner-up to Trump in free media is Hillary Clinton, the leader for the Democratic nomination and Trump’s probable opponent in November. Through April, Clinton earned the equivalent of $1.1 billion in free advertising.

Trump’s frequent presence on television and online may help to explain why the reality-TV star and business magnate has spent so little per vote. MarketWatch earlier this week wrote that Trump has spent the least amount of money per vote and per delegate of any candidate in either party — just $4.62 per vote.

Read: Donald Trump spent the least to win votes, delegates.

Early in the campaign, Trump acknowledged his media advantage. “I’ve gotten so much free advertising, it’s like nothing I’d have expected,” he told the New York Times in September. “When you look at cable television, a lot of the programs are 100% Trump, so why would you need more Trump during the commercial breaks?”

Trump, meanwhile, should brace for attacks in the form of paid advertising against him from Clinton’s backers. The Associated Press reported Friday that Priorities USA, the lead super PAC supporting Clinton, has reserved $91 million in television advertising that will start in June and continue through Election Day. The AP said the group is the only one on either side that has unveiled such an ambitious ad plan geared toward the general election.