The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum / Are The Leaders Avoiding Radio Ads During The Election?

**Posted by RadioActive** **Online!** April 8, 2025 10:32 am

Maybe I've been turning off the spots to go somewhere else (so I don't have to hear Fiona or Wegovy) but I suddenly realized that with just a few weeks to go, I haven't heard any "vote for me" ads on local radio. Not one. At least on the stations I tune to.

I thought this would be a big bonanza for the industry, as many of the parties are well financed and have money to spend on commercials. But so far, I've only seen them on TV.

Have the major parties, especially the Liberals and Conservatives, abandoned radio this year? If so, it's a shame. With the industry struggling, stations could use the revenue.

What does it say about the current state of radio that no one is using it to reach voters?

**Posted by Forward Power** April 8, 2025 10:43 am

I do traffic (commercial scheduling) for a pair of Ontario radio stations, and there is definitely one local LPC candidate on the air as I type this, and one CPC candidate that I know of whose ad schedule is about to start. Nothing at the national level from any of the major parties, but Elections Canada has ads currently running on both stations that I work.

During the provincial election, the two stations got ad buys from the area's OPC incumbent, as well as the local OLP and ONDP candidates, and at the "national" level, Elections Ontario.

Here at my home base in eastern Ontario, which has been a blue riding federally and provincially for at least the last 20-25 years, I've only seen one sign so far for the incumbent CPC candidate, while the local LPC candidate has many around town, including one on our neighbour's lawn across the street, and the NDP candidate just recently rolled out a bunch of signs, one of which is outside a house a couple of blocks from us.

And RA, my two stations will give you a good reprieve from the barf-worthy spots that air constantly in the GTA.

Last edited by Forward Power (April 8, 2025 10:53 am)

**Posted by ED1** April 8, 2025 11:01 am

On Sunday, I was listening to CBC Radio One after Cross Countey Checkup, and the time block that aired after the show only contained 1 ad for the NDP and 1 ad for some pro-animal party. The rest of the airtime was filled with Muzak of some kind.

I haven’t heard any other election ad blocks on CBC Radio but I did wonder if they are also seeing a drop in political parties taking up that available airtime.

**Posted by RonaldS** April 8, 2025 4:19 pm

During the Liberal leadership race, the CPC was running ads ("Carbon Tax Carney", "He's Just Like Justin") two or three times per hour on Bounce 99.5 in Kitchener.

They continued for a few days after that race ended, and have seemingly stopped.