Automotive TV Spending Up Nearly 29% In October

• by Tanya Gazdik , Yesterday

Automakers spent an estimated $399.1 million on national TV in October, up 28.9% year-over-year. 

The year-to-date spending ($2.1 billion) was up 4.3% compared to the same period in 2023 ($2 billion), according to iSpot.tv. 

Meanwhile, household TV ad impressions were down 23.8% in October to to 21 billion compared to 27.6 billion a year-ago. Year-to-date impressions are also down 13.9% year-over-year (231.2 billion vs. 268.4 billion for the same period in 2023. 

The top five brands by estimated national TV ad spending for the month were Honda ($47.2 million), Ford ($37.9 million), Jeep ($36.9 million), Hyundai ($33.6 million) and Chevrolet ($29 million), per iSpot.tv.

The most-seen automaker ads by share of household TV ad impressions in October 2024 were Ram Trucks: "The Calling: Blessed "(3.76%), Honda: "Unstoppable Dreams" (2.78%), Mercedes-Benz: "SUV for U" (2.27%), Hyundai: "Drive-In, Drive Easy" (2.15%) and Subaru: "The Moment" (2.09%).

With a month that included NFL and college football, the MLB postseason and World Series, and the NBA season tip off, sports accounted for an overwhelming majority of automaker spend. 

All the top five brands invested heavily in the NFL. Jeep leaned in the most, with over 87% of its total October outlay going to games. The MLB and college football were other top focuses for all five automakers, as well as the NBA, but to a somewhat lesser extent (plus the season didn’t start until late October).

“During a busy sports month, automakers focused investment accordingly to get in front of the largest audiences TV had to offer,” says Stuart Schwartzapfel, executive vice president, media partnerships at iSpot.tv. “But in the lead-up to election season, news programming also provided significant reach, especially in primetime, for the brands willing to drive down that road.”

The top five brands by share of automaker household TV ad impressions in October were Hyundai (8.86%), Lexus (8.42%), Toyota (7.81%), Ford (7.70%) and Chevrolet (7.18%).

The top five brands by share of voice on streaming for the month were Hyundai (10.90%), Ram Trucks (9.45%), Ford (7.18%), Toyota (6.91%) and Lexus (6.66%).

Ram Trucks put a greater emphasis on streaming over national linear from a reach SOV standpoint in October 2024, with it ranking sixth for linear SOV but second for streaming. And compared to October 2023, Ram Trucks, Hyundai and Toyota all increased streaming SOV year-over-year, while Ford and Lexus had a smaller share this October vs. October 2023, per iSpot.tv.

The top programs for automakers by share of household TV ad impressions in October 2024 were NFL (19.26%), college football (14.29%), MLB (9.30%), NBA (1.32%) and SportsCenter (0.97%).

Sports delivered the widest reach for the automaker industry in October — but outside of SportsCenter, TV ad impressions were down for the top sports. 

The NFL saw a 23% decrease in auto impressions vs. October 2023. The MLB was down 22% year-over-year and NBA impressions slipped by 19%, while college football impressions declined by 14% vs. October 2023. SportsCenter saw auto impressions increase by 5% year-over-year, per iSpot.tv.

The top networks for automakers by share of household TV ad impressions October 2024 were NBC (14.90%), Fox (12.55%), ABC (8.28%), CBS (7.69%) and ESPN (6.33%).

All the top five networks saw a decrease in automaker impressions compared to October 2023. Meanwhile, The Weather Channel (which ranked No. 6 for industry reach), saw a 153% surge in impressions year-over-year, thanks largely to the increases around Hurricane Milton coverage. HGTV (No. 8 for automaker reach) had a 35% increase in impressions vs. October 2023, per iSpot.tv.

As part of iSpot's creative assessment survey, likeability measures an ad's ability to appeal to viewers, based on results from the survey prompt “I like this ad.” Positive Purchase Intent is the share of creative assessment survey respondents that indicated they were "more" or "much more" likely to purchase a product or service after seeing an ad.

The top automaker ads by likeability per iSpot.tv among the top 20 most-seen ads in October 2024 were Subaru: "National Make a Dog’s Day: Waiting" (+13.7% more like able than October automotive norm), Subaru: "Shelter Dog "(+9.1%), Lexus:"Free" (+6.2%), Jeep: "You Know: Middle of Nowhere" (+5.7%) and Ram Trucks: "The Calling: Blessed" (+3.4%).

The top automaker ads by positive purchase intent among the top 20 most-seen ads during the third quarter of 2024 were GMC: "The Time Has Come" (55% positive purchase intent), Infiniti: "Audio Zones" (55%), Genesis: "Illuminated" (52%), Subaru: "National Make a Dog’s Day: Waiting" (51%) and Lexus: "Future Proof" (50%).