According to Nielsen research, 690,000 people in the Fort Myers area will likely participate in the upcoming election on November 8th. To sway these voters, candidates and political action committees are expected to spend a record amount on advertising.

AdImpact, a company that measures advertising expenditures by political campaigns, says more than $3.6 billion have been spent to reach voters so far in 2022. This puts spending on a course to obliterate the record level of campaign dollars set during the 2020 presidential elections.

Despite crumbling ratings, through August 1st, 58% of all political spending has been dished out to local TV stations, according to AdImpact.

Nielsen reports that since 2017, the reach of broadcast TV stations like WINK, WBBH, WZVN, WGCU, and WFTX has decayed by 10%.

No matter which Fort Myers television station or cable channel adults tune to in 2022, they can expect to be assaulted by a deluge of political advertising. Often entire commercial breaks are stuffed with back-to-back pleas and promises to secure viewers' votes.

But is advertising on WINK, WBBH, WZVN, WGCU, or WFTXthe most effective way to reach likely voters in the Fort Myers area? Or is advertising on cable channels provided by Xfinity, DISH, and DirecTV the way to go?

The answer is neither. According to research from Nielsen, the best way to reach local adults who are most likely to vote is by advertising on Fort Myers radio.

Every week, 548,000 likely voters will listen to Fort Myers radio stations. This is significantly more than watch local TV, cable, and streaming video. More that use social media and streaming audio. More than will read newspapers.

On September 4, the political advertising window opened on Fort Myers television and radio stations.  This is a 60 day period leading up to a general election when broadcast stations licensed by the Federal Communication Commission are obligated to offer candidates for national office the opportunity to buy commercials at the lowest unit rate (LUR).

For example, if a high-frequency advertiser like McDonald's earns the lowest rates on a particular Fort Myers radio station during morning drive-time, then any candidate for federal office must, during the 60-day political window, be offered the same rate for morning drive time on that station, regardless of frequency.

If, however, the McDonald's rate is contingent on the radio station's ability to pre-empt commercials without notice, then qualified candidates must agree to identical terms to receive the same rate.

To facilitate the purchase of commercials on Fort Myers radio, stations will supply candidates with a political rate-card.  This card will show the LUR by time of day and by preemption parameters.

Here are other important facts about political advertising on Fort Myers radio.

There are more than 680,000 registered voters in Southwest Florida. Here is the number by county:

• Collier: 211,221
• Lee: 472,494

According to Nielsen, Fort Myers radio reaches significantly more of these registered voters than all other media, including local television pay-TV, newspaper, social media platforms, and streaming audio sites like Pandora or Spotify.

To be elected, however, requires candidates for every office to share their message with those who are not only registered but who are likely to vote.  Advertising on Fort Myers radio will reach, by far, the most voters who can be counted on to show up on election day.