The Elections Research Center has made data from the Wisconsin Advertising Project (WiscAds) available electronically for academic use for a nominal fee.
From 1996 to 2008, WiscAds conducted research investigating how candidates, political parties, and special interest groups communicate with voters. Initially, WiscAds studied campaign television advertisements in the nation’s 75 largest media markets by collecting and analyzing all political advertisements aired on broadcast and cable stations. The scope of the project increased over time, eventually gathering data on all 210 media markets in the United States. This unique database has been made possible through a technology developed by the Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG).
Inquiries about ad data for elections from 2010 forward should be addressed to the Wesleyan Media Project.
How Can I Access the Data?
Data is available for the 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2008 elections. The 1996 WiscAds data has been made available for download for free:
1996 Data, Excel Format
Use of data from later years requires researchers to agree to certain terms and conditions. A small fee ($20 for each election year) is required to cover administrative expenses.
To purchase access, please click the link below and agree to the terms of the data use agreements. After completing the transaction, you will receive an email with instructions concerning how to download the files.
Data Use Agreements
 2000 Data Use Agreement |
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| 2002 Data Use Agreement |
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| 2004 Data Use Agreement |
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| 2008 Data Use Agreement |
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Click here to purchase access to the data. Major credit cards   are accepted. |
What Files Are Included?
All datasets for primary and general elections 2000-2008 are provided in SPSS and Stata formats. Storyboards of all creatives are also provided as PDFs.
The 2000 data covers the nation’s largest 75 media markets (DMAs).
The 2002 data covers U.S. House, U.S. Senate and Gubernatorial contests in the nation’s largest 100 DMAs.
The 2004 data covers Presidential, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and Gubernatorial elections within the 100 largest DMAs in the United States during 2003 and 2004.
The 2008 data covers Presidential, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and Gubernatorial elections within all 210 media markets in the United States during 2007 and 2008.
Available Codebooks
Contact the Wisconsin Advertising Project
Email
wiscads@polisci.wisc.edu
Physical Address
Wisconsin Advertising Project
Department of Political Science
110 North Hall, 1050 Bascom Mall
Madison, WI 53706