In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv, Warner Bros. claims the top spot in spending with “Birds of Prey.”
Ads placed for the superhero film had an estimated media value of $6.94 million through Sunday for 431 national ad airings on 23 networks. (Spend figures are based on estimates generated from Jan. 13-19. Estimates may be updated after the chart is posted as new information becomes available.) Warner Bros. prioritized spend across networks including Fox, CBS and ESPN, and during programming such as NFL Football, College Football and This Is Us.
Just behind “Birds of Prey” in second place: Disney Pixar’s “Onward,” which saw 221 national ad airings across eight networks, with an estimated media value of $5.95 million.
TV ad placements for Twentieth Century Fox’s “The Call of the Wild” (EMV: $5.8 million), Universal Pictures’ “Dolittle” ($5.72 million) and Columbia Pictures’ “Bad Boys for Life” ($5.22 million) round out the chart.
Notably, “Onward” has the best iSpot Attention Index (149) in the ranking, getting 49% fewer interruptions than the average movie ad (interruptions include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV).
Popular on Variety
Top Movie Commercials by Weekly TV Spend
$6.94M – Birds of Prey
Impressions: 276,913,249
Attention Score: 93.33
Attention Index: 83
National Airings: 431
Networks: 23
Most Spend On: FOX, CBS
Creative Versions: 26
Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $10.98M
Studio: Warner Bros.
Started Airing: 10/01/19
$5.95M – Onward
Impressions: 124,823,980
Attention Score: 97.17
Attention Index: 149
National Airings: 221
Networks: 8
Most Spend On: FOX, CBS
Creative Versions: 8
Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $12.1M
Studio: Disney Pixar
Started Airing: 05/30/19
$5.8M – The Call of the Wild
Impressions: 110,118,418
Attention Score: 93.39
Attention Index: 83
National Airings: 190
Networks: 12
Most Spend On: FOX, CBS
Creative Versions: 4
Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $6.15M
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Started Airing: 11/20/19
$5.72M – Dolittle
Impressions: 380,555,321
Attention Score: 91.67
Attention Index: 66
National Airings: 1,225
Networks: 51
Most Spend On: ESPN, NBC
Creative Versions: 63
Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $32.9M
Studio: Universal Pictures
Started Airing: 10/13/19
$5.22M – Bad Boys for Life
Impressions: 428,434,473
Attention Score: 94.85
Attention Index: 107
National Airings: 1,085
Networks: 44
Most Spend On: ESPN, NBC
Creative Versions: 63
Est. Lifetime TV Spend: $20.94M
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Started Airing: 12/15/19
1 Movie titles with a minimum spend of $100,000 for airings detected between 01/13/2020 and 01/19/2020.
* 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 in its respective industry. 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.