October was biggest month ever for political advertisements

Television viewers saw a record number of political ads last month.

Viewers were inundated with almost 1.48 million political ads in October 2010, up from the 1.41 million in October 2008, according to Nielsen Media Research, which tracks television programs and ratings.

That’s more than any other month since Nielsen starting collecting that data in 2000.

Nielsen spokesman Aaron Lewis told The Associated Press the company is confident that there was no bigger number before that.

And that 1.48 million number could be even higher — Nielsen tracks only broadcast TV, so that doesn’t include ads that aired on cable.

Viewers in Ohio got hit the hardest in October, traditionally the heaviest month for political ad spending.

In Nielsen’s analysis of local broadcast TV outlets in the top 128 markets, Cleveland stations aired the highest proportion of political ads, followed by Columbus, Ohio. In those two markets, 23 percent of the ads that aired were political, meaning about one in four ads had to do with the election.

Here are the Top 10 cities that saw the most political advertising:

1. Cleveland
2. Columbus, Ohio
3. Portland, Ore.
4. Sacramento, Calif.
5. Seattle
6. Champaign-Springfield, Ill.
7. Reno, Nev.
8. Denver
9. Orlando, Fla.
10. West Palm Beach, Fla.

All of those states had competitive Senate races and several had competitive House contests.

Viewers in Jackson, Miss., saw the fewest political ads in October. Only 1 percent of the TV ads that aired had to do with the election.