Hyundai Uses NFL, Remains No. 1 in Most-Watched Auto TV Commercials

Hyundai’s “Vail” continues to top iSpot.tv’s ranking of the most-watched auto TV ads, despite a 41% week-over-week decline in its 130.2 million national TV ad impressions from Nov. 27 to Dec. 3.

NFL games accounted for 28.7 million impressions, or nearly a quarter of the total. NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt came in second with 25.8 million impressions, and Football Night in America came in third with 10 million impressions. With 57.5 million impressions, NBC easily topped the list of networks that generated impressions, with CBS and Fox each producing roughly 9 million impressions.

In second place, with 122.8 million national TV ad impressions, is Subaru, which is also loved. The ad emphasizes the company’s commitment to giving back to the community through volunteer work and charitable contributions, mentioning that Subaru and its dealers donate $300 to charitable causes for every new car purchased. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit came in second with 3.9 million impressions, followed by Dancing With the Stars and Today with 5.2 million each. A study conducted by iSpot Creative Assessment found that 32% of respondents thought the advertisement’s message was its strongest feature.

At number three is a commercial for Kia advertising their Season of Giving Back Sales Event, which features discounts on the Sportage and Sorento models. The advertisement generated 119.1 million impressions nationwide for TV, with Fox (18.6 million), ABC (10.5 million), and The CW (5.9 million) being the top impression-generating networks. The top three programs by impressions were NBA games (4.2 million), college football (8.1 million), and family feud (9.9 million).

With 98.7 million national TV ad impressions, 54% of which came from primetime ad airings, Nissan’s “All In” comes in fourth place. With 28.9 million impressions, college football was the main impressions generator. Hallmark Channel, with 41.5 million impressions, was the top network; its original film, A Not So Royal Christmas, ranked second with 8.9 million impressions.

With a voiceover and narration conspicuously absent, Lexus’s fifth-place spot cleverly promotes its December to Remember Sales Event. Of the 90.9 million TV ad impressions nationwide, 11.1 million were from college football games. NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt produced 2.6 million impressions, and college basketball contributed another 3.5 million. iSpot’s Creative Assessment gave this advertisement higher attention, likability, and desire scores than the average for the auto industry.