"The big surprise is how loud the burst was on day one, and even pre-day one, as the election was announced," Mr Basil-Jones said. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull appears in a Coalition TV ad. "We've been doing the maths and there is simply no way they can maintain this for [seven more weeks] based on the past two elections spending." The major parties spent more than $700,000 in the first week of the 2016 election advertising war. Even before Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull kicked off the 55-day campaign last week, Labor's first television ad was playing on Perth TV from 7.15am.

The Liberal Party's first ad, talking up a national economic plan linked to the federal budget, played at 3.40pm that day. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten appears in a Labor TV ad. Ebiquity measures TV and radio advertising data based on analysis of the Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth markets. The numbers don't take into account spending in regional areas or on pay TV. The company counted 518 Liberal Party ads in the first week, compared with 867 from Labor. A Melbourne-based advertising executive told Fairfax Media the parties would soon spend up to $100,000 for a single advertising spot on Sunday nights.

Advertising during the major news bulletins on Seven or Nine could reach up to 1.2 million voters in capital cities, while Masterchef and other commercial network blockbusters can easily pull over 1 million metro viewers. As Mr Shorten spent the first four days of the campaign in Queensland marginal seats, Labor's ad promising '100 positive policies', and one accusing Mr Turnbull of being "seriously out of touch", cost the party nearly $200,000. The Coalition's 'national economic plan' ads cost $537,605, while a further $3000 was spent on ads talking up small business spending in Townsville. In the past two election campaigns, more than 75 per cent of all advertising spending took place in the last two weeks of the campaign. Mr Basil-Jones said there had been little print based advertising but online videos were popular with both parties.