It's been a record election year for ad spending. Last week the number of presidential TV ads aired passed the one million mark, according to the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks advertizing in federal elections. Bowdoin College Professor Michael Franz is co-director of the project. He says one of the facts that leapt out at him from the latest data is the amount of outside money that's being poured into Maine's U.S. Senate race. For example, he points out, during the first three weeks of October alone, about two-thirds of the nearly 6,000 Senate ads that aired in Maine were funded by out-of-state sources.

Maine Things Considered host Tom Porter talks with Bowdoin College Professor Michael Franz (right). Franz is also co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks advertizing in federal elections.

Photo courtesy of Bowdoin College.