In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the TV advertising attention analytics company iSpot.tv, Universal Pictures claims the top spot in spending with “First Man.”
Ads placed for the drama had an estimated media value of $8.4 million through Sunday for 621 national ad airings on 24 networks. (Spend figures are based on estimates generated from Sept. 24-30. Estimates may be updated after the chart is posted as new information becomes available.) Universal prioritized spend across networks including CBS, NBC and Fox, and during specific programming such as NFL Football, The Big Bang Theory and The Good Doctor.
Just behind “First Man” in second place: Columbia Pictures’ “Venom,” which saw 975 national ad airings across 36 networks, with an estimated media value of $5.86 million.
TV ad placements for Warner Bros.’ “A Star Is Born” (EMV: $5.52 million), Twentieth Century Fox’s “Bad Times at the El Royale” ($4.86 million) and Universal Pictures’ “Night School” ($4.78 million) round out the chart.
Notably, “Bad Times at the El Royale” has the best iSpot Attention Index (109) in the ranking, getting 9% fewer interruptions than the average movie ad (interruptions include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV).
Top Movie Commercials by Weekly TV Spend
$8.4M – First Man
Impressions: 329,846,280
Attention Score: 92.05
Attention Index: 91
National Airings: 621
Networks: 24
Most Spend On: CBS, NBC
Creative Versions: 21
Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $18.98M
Studio: Universal Pictures
Started Airing: 06/08/18
$5.86M – Venom
Impressions: 352,761,035
Attention Score: 89.85
Attention Index: 71
National Airings: 975
Networks: 36
Most Spend On: NBC, Adult Swim
Creative Versions: 35
Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $14.75M
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Started Airing: 09/04/18
$5.52M – A Star Is Born
Impressions: 254,270,694
Attention Score: 90.52
Attention Index: 76
National Airings: 508
Networks: 34
Most Spend On: FOX, NBC
Creative Versions: 21
Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $13.29M
Studio: Warner Bros.
Started Airing: 09/02/18
$4.86M – Bad Times at the El Royale
Impressions: 241,583,514
Attention Score: 93.42
Attention Index: 109
National Airings: 773
Networks: 30
Most Spend On: CBS, FOX
Creative Versions: 11
Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $13.75M
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Started Airing: 09/04/18
$4.78M – Night School
Impressions: 276,212,277
Attention Score: 92.78
Attention Index: 100
National Airings: 836
Networks: 32
Most Spend On: CBS, FOX
Creative Versions: 31
Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $19.09M
Studio: Universal Pictures
Started Airing: 06/05/18
1 Movie titles with a minimum spend of $100,000 for airings detected between 09/24/2018 and 09/30/2018.
* TV Impressions – Total TV ad impressions delivered for the brand or spot.
* Attention Score – Measures the propensity of consumers to interrupt an ad play on TV. The higher the score, the more complete views. Actions that interrupt an ad play include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV.
* Attention Index – Represents the Attention of a specific creative or program placement vs the average. The average is represented by a score of 100, and the total index range is from 0 through 200. For example, an attention index of 125 means that there are 25% fewer interrupted ad plays compared to the average.
Variety has partnered with iSpot.tv, the real-time TV ad measurement company with attention analytics from more than eight million smart TVs, to bring you this weekly look at what studios are spending to market their movies on TV. Learn more about the iSpot.tv platform and methodology.