In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv, Paramount Pictures claims the top spot in spending for the second week in a row with “Terminator: Dark Fate.”
Ads placed for the sci-fi action film had an estimated media value of $7.8 million through Sunday for 1,071 national ad airings on 36 networks. (Spend figures are based on estimates generated from Oct. 21-27. Estimates may be updated after the chart is posted as new information becomes available.) Paramount prioritized spend across networks including CBS, Fox and NBC, and during programming such as NFL Football, NBA Basketball and “The Walking Dead.”
Just behind “Terminator: Dark Fate” in second place: Paramount’s “Playing With Fire,” which saw 996 national ad airings across 30 networks, with an estimated media value of $4.94 million.
TV ad placements for Twentieth Century Fox’s “Ford v. Ferrari” (EMV: $4.33 million), Lionsgate’s “Midway” ($3.8 million) and Universal Pictures’ “Last Christmas” ($3.66 million) round out the chart.
Notably, “Last Christmas” has the best iSpot Attention Index (135) in the ranking, getting 35% 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
$7.8M – Terminator: Dark Fate
Impressions: 396,866,231
Attention Score: 93.35
Attention Index: 78
National Airings: 1,071
Networks: 36
Most Spend On: CBS, FOX
Creative Versions: 22
Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $23.28M
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Started Airing: 05/30/19
$4.94M – Playing With Fire
Impressions: 253,025,215
Attention Score: 95.40
Attention Index: 111
National Airings: 996
Networks: 30
Most Spend On: Nick, NBC
Creative Versions: 18
Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $11.7M
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Started Airing: 07/17/19
$4.33M – Ford v. Ferrari
Impressions: 178,846,347
Attention Score: 96.06
Attention Index: 124
National Airings: 175
Networks: 20
Most Spend On: FOX, NBC
Creative Versions: 7
Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $10.52M
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Started Airing: 06/02/19
$3.8M – Midway
Impressions: 209,747,519
Attention Score: 94.10
Attention Index: 87
National Airings: 288
Networks: 19
Most Spend On: FOX, CBS
Creative Versions: 5
Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $10.12M
Studio: Lionsgate
Started Airing: 07/01/19
$3.66M – Last Christmas
Impressions: 239,020,701
Attention Score: 96.65
Attention Index: 135
National Airings: 681
Networks: 26
Most Spend On: CBS, NBC
Creative Versions: 11
Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $12.72M
Studio: Universal Pictures
Started Airing: 08/14/19
1 Movie titles with a minimum spend of $100,000 for airings detected between 10/21/2019 and 10/27/2019.
* 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 always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company, 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.