The Wall Street Journal reports that since 2012 network TV political advertising has decreased. A top ad tracking agency, Kantar Media, predicts that for the year 2016 the total spend will be $2.8 billion. However, this isn’t the complete picture as cable and satellite outlets are not included in this figure. The spend for this year’s political campaigns will be $300 million less than that of the presidential campaigns of 2012.

A large part of the decrease is due to the lack of advertising spend that presidential candidate Donald Trump is responsible for when compared to candidates of the past. For example, he plans to spend $100 million on TV ads on the day prior to election day, whereas 4 years ago Romney spent $370 million. However, Hillary Clinton, the other presidential candidate, is spending more. $325 million has been spent on broadcast television compared to the $78 that was spent by Donald Trump.

The reason for this decrease is perhaps the increased use of cheaper advertising methods such as social media and radio. However, you cannot reach the entire population via social media, which means traditional advertising methods will never go away.