NFL, College Football Deliver Wide Reach for Latest Most-Seen Auto TV Ads

In a big sports week, Fox generated top impression counts for several of the top automotive commercials, per iSpot’s analysis across Oct. 28 through Nov. 3.

Each of the top auto ads, as ranked by iSpot.tv’s national TV ad impressions, activated to some extent around football, with a few also harnessing the World Series to reach large audiences. 

With 250.4 million national TV ad impressions, Ram Trucks’ “The Calling: Blessed” takes first place on the ranking. College football games accounted for nearly 21% of the ad’s total reach, with the NFL delivering around 14%, while Yellowstone ranked third for delivering impressions (and at a lower cost vs. live sports), thanks to weekend rerun marathons on Paramount Network.

At No.2: Honda’s “Unstoppable Dreams” with 166.3 million national TV ad impressions. The spot takes an inspirational tone, with a voiceover that quite literally “flips the script” from  self-doubt to self-confidence. The ad achieved notable reach from a combination of NFL games (19% of total impressions) and college football games (6%), plus more budget-friendly placements across The Big Bang Theory (3%), House Hunters (2%) and My Lottery Dream Home (2%). 

Despite not debuting until Nov. 1, Genesis’ “Details Make the Holidays” achieved enough reach to claim third place, thanks largely to college football (30% of its total 101.5 million national TV ad impressions) and the NFL (11%). The commercial’s sleek and colorful cinematography resonated with viewers: Per iSpot’s Creative Assessment, 26% of survey respondents cited the visual scenes as the “single best thing” about the ad. 

Subaru prioritized the World Series for its No.4 spot, with games generating 12% of its total 98.4 million national TV ad impressions. College football games delivered 3% of impressions, followed by Yellowstone (3%) and Storage Wars (2%). Although Fox was the top network by impressions (16%), the majority of the ad’s reach came from cable networks, led by Hallmark (11%), HGTV (7%), A&E (6%) and Discovery (5%). According to iSpot’s Creative Assessment, this spot performed above the automotive norm for attention, watchability, desire and relevance. 

The fifth-place spot from GMC leaned heavily into sports, with NFL games driving 60% of its total 95.2 million national TV ad impressions. College football accounted for about 20% of the ad’s impressions, followed by the World Series (9%) and Fox NFL Sunday (7%). On the network side of things, Fox delivered 88% of the commercial’s total impressions, with CBS a distant second (11%). The ad inspired notable positive purchase intent, with 45% of iSpot’s Creative Assessment survey respondents saying they were “more” or “much more” likely to purchase after viewing the ad.

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1. Ram Trucks: The Calling: Blessed 

Impressions: 250,406,495   

Interruption Rate: 3.36%

Attention Index: 119

Est. National TV Ad Spend: $4,171,001

2. Honda: Unstoppable Dreams

Impressions: 166,295,668    

Interruption Rate: 3.23%

Attention Index: 119

Est. National TV Ad Spend: $6,310,968

3. Genesis: Details Make the Holidays

Impressions: 101,461,148    

Interruption Rate: 2.39%

Attention Index: 109

Est. National TV Ad Spend: $3,283,484

4. Subaru: The Moment

Impressions: 98,351,762    

Interruption Rate: 3.36%

Attention Index: 98

Est. National TV Ad Spend: $1,152,971

5. GMC: The Time Has Come

Impressions: 95,226,449  

Interruption Rate: 1.60%

Attention Index: 168

Est. National TV Ad Spend: $9,223,705

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 the 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 the ad’s interruption rate against its specific media placement. The Attention Index is measured on a scale of 0 to 200, where 100 is the average and means the ad is performing as expected.
Est. National TV Spend - Amount spent on TV airings for the brand’s spots.