Honda ‘Determined’ to Air Most-Watched Auto Ad

Honda’s “Forever Determined” debuts in the top position on iSpot.tv’s ranking of the most-watched auto ads, boasting a massive 352 million impressions. The bulk of its views come from sports programming, with college football and SportsCenter leading the list. That makes sense, given that college football kicked off this past weekend and the NFL season is on the very near horizon. 

In fact, college football leads the list in terms of delivering the most impressions for every car manufacturer save Subaru. Nissan augmented its sports programming targeting with the U.S. Open tennis championships, while Hyundai opted for Major League Baseball. 

But Honda’s estimated national spend of $3.4 million – twice as much as its closest competitor in second position – didn’t so much pay for tentpole-event inventory as it did for sheer volume. The ad had nearly 2,500 airings for the week, 2.5 times that of No.2 Nissan and twice as much as both Subaru ads on the list combined. 

Subaru’s two ads had no sports programming among the top five shows delivering the most eyeballs. The top two programs for both ads were Law & Order: SVU and Yellowstone. However, according to iSpot’s Ace Metrix survey, the two ads tied for the best overall viewer ratings of the entire list. 

Of the two, Subaru’s “Painted Lines” boasts the highest Persuasion Score, with a rating 11.2% above industry norms. Honda and Nissan tied for the best brand recall score of 86%, referring to the number of viewers who remembered which automaker’s ad it was after viewing it.

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Honda: Forever Determined 

Impressions: 352,913,296 

Interruption Rate: 2.92% 

Attention Index: 93 

Est. TV Spend: $3,399,222

Nissan: 60 Years in 30 Seconds 

Impressions: 213,431,846 

Interruption Rate: 2.53% 

Attention Index: 92 

Est. TV Spend: $1,632,472

Subaru: Go Further 

Impressions: 128,075,288 

Interruption Rate: 3.16% 

Attention Index: 92 

Est. TV Spend: $891,835

Hyundai: County Fair 

Impressions: 124,572,809 

Interruption Rate: 2.39% 

Attention Index: 102 

Est. TV Spend: $689,538

Subaru: Painted Lines 

Impressions: 120,515,706 

Interruption Rate: 2.96% 

Attention Index: 88 

Est. TV Spend: $830,773

Data provided by iSpot.tv, The New Standard for TV Ad Measurement

TV Impressions - Total TV ad impressions delivered for the brand or spot.

Interruption Rate - The percentage of devices that were present at the beginning of your ad but did not complete watching the ad. Actions that interrupt ad play include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding, or turning off the TV. The Interruption rate is measured on a scale of 0 to 100%.

Attention Index - A comparison of your ad’s Interruption Rate against your specific media placement. The Attention Index is measured on a scale of 0 to 200, where 100 is the average and means your ad is performing as expected.

Est. National TV Spend - Amount spent on TV airings for the brand’s spots.