DIRECTV Launches New Platform For Political Advertisers

DIRECTV’s advertising division is launching a new artificial intelligence-driven digital advertising platform for political advertisers. 

DIRECTV Elect will offer CTV at scale, with inventory across DIRECTV and national cable networks, reaching more than 130 million monthly active users, the company said. 

The platform delivers AI-driven insights into campaign issues and voter sentiment by analyzing “millions of signals from Large Language Model responses, news, social media, donation patterns and recent voting behaviors to help political campaigns know where to focus, what to say, and ultimately, who to reach.”

The platform is also expected to offer both national insights and local analysis with zip code geo-targeting, DIRECTV Advertising said. 

“AI is redefining how political campaigns discover and engage with voters, helping unlock deeper insights and more effective connections,” Amy Leifer, DIRECTV Advertising’s chief advertising sales officer, said in a statement.. “When that intelligence is complemented by the reach and credibility of television, voters gain greater clarity and confidence in what they see, while campaigns can achieve stronger results.”

The platform launch marks a new effort by the video programming giant to tailor its offerings to an industry that’s expected to draw nearly $11 billion in spending in 2026. That would make the coming elections the most expensive midterm election cycle in history. The 2022 cycle, by comparison, saw about $8.9 billion in ad spending.

According to the ad tech firm AdImpact, broadcast television is expected to account for nearly half of all political ad spending in 2026, while CTV’s market share is expected to grow twice as fast. 

CTV’s spending share will increase to 23 percent next year – a 2 percent increase over 2024 levels – to nearly $2.5 billion, according to AdImpact. Broadcast television, meanwhile, is projected to increase by just 1 percent, but lose $97 million overall in revenue. 

CTV is also expected to eat into local cable’s market share, according to AdImpact, which projects spending on local cable dropping from $1.7 billion in 2022 to $1.29 billion in 2026.

“Campaigns need to meet voters wherever they are, across linear, streaming, and digital environments,” Drew Groner, the head of sales and marketing for DIRECTV Advertising, said. “Political ad buyers want to find new ways to reach undecided voters, voters in the battleground states and those in states with the highest projected spend.”