Automakers spent nearly the same on estimated national
\nlinear TV spending in February 2026 ($151.7 million) as they did a year ago ($152.7 million) according to iSpot.tv. <\/p>\n
Automakers spent nearly the same on estimated national
\nlinear TV spending in February 2026 ($151.7 million) as they did a year ago ($152.7 million) according to iSpot.tv. <\/p>\n
Estimated year-to-date spending for the first two months of
\nthe year totalled $457.2 million (down 7.7% YoY) compared to $495.1 million for the first two months of 2025. <\/p>\n
February 2026 Household TV Ad Impressions totaled 15.1 billion
\n(down 11.7% YoY) compared to 17.1 billion in February 2025, per iSpot.tv. <\/p>\n
The top five brands by estimated national linear TV ad spending for the month were Toyota ($28.5
\nmillion), Honda ($21 million), Kia ($14.3 million), Volkswagen ($13.6 million) and Subaru ($10.8 million).<\/p>\n
Over 35% of total auto industry spend in February went toward the
\nOlympics, with the NFL \u2014 largely from the Super Bowl \u2014 in second place (20.05%), followed by the NBA (6.58%), according to iSpot.tv.<\/p>\n
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Top non-sports-related programming
\nby outlay included the 68th Annual Grammy Awards (1.93%), “House Hunters” (0.72%) and “Survivor” (0.63%). <\/p>\n
Three of the top five brands advertised during the Olympics \u2014
\nToyota, Honda and Kia \u2014 and two of the five also aired ads during Super Bowl LX (Toyota and Volkswagen), per iSpot.tv.<\/p>\n
Sports once again dominated for automaker reach in
\nFebruary, led by the Olympics. “House Hunters” was the top non-sports program by impressions (1.18%), followed by “The Big Bang Theory” (1.10%) and “Today” (1.02). <\/p>\n
\u201cThe
\n2026 Milan Cortina Olympics gave automakers a prime opportunity to connect with large, highly engaged audiences in February, and several brands leaned in with Olympic-themed creative celebrating Team
\nUSA,\u201d said Stuart Schwartzapfel, executive vice president of edia partnerships at iSpot.tv. \u201cBut beyond the sports spotlight, a number of reality programs also posted year-over-year gains,
\npointing to a more consistent, year-round opportunity for brands to engage viewers at lower CPMs than sports.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the Olympics such a big focus during the month, auto reach
\nwas down across other major sports: NBA impressions declined by nearly 25% compared to February 2025 and men\u2019s college basketball was down by 41%, while PGA Tour golf saw a 2% decline and NHL
\nimpressions dropped 79% year-over-year.<\/p>\n
Subaru had the most variety in spend, led by Puppy Bowl XXII (15.86% spend SOV), the 68th Grammy Awards (8.88%), “Today” (3.17%) and “The Big
\nBang Theory” (2.52%). <\/p>\n
The top five brands by share of automaker household TV ad impressions were Toyota (11.16%), Chevrolet (8.59%), Ford (8.42%), Hyundai (7.26%) and
\nKia (7.24%).<\/p>\n
The top five brands by share of voice on streaming were Jeep (10.40%), Hyundai (7.96%), Chevrolet (7.59%), Nissan (7.07%) and Ram Trucks (6.41%), per iSpot.tv.<\/p>\n
The most-seen automaker ads by share of household TV ad impressions were Hyundai: Golf Pro<\/a> (3.33%), The top automaker ads by likeability according to iSpot.tv<\/a>‘s assessment were Subaru: Dog Tested: The Chase<\/a> (+12.5% more likeable The top automaker ads by positive purchase intent according to iSpot.tv<\/a> were Chevrolet: See the USA in Your Chevrolet<\/a> (60%); Kia: The Next-Generation Kia Telluride<\/a> (59%); Toyota: Dear All-Wheel Drive: Yours<\/a> (58%); Subaru: Dog Tested: The Chase<\/a> (57%) and Toyota: America Drives Toyota<\/a> (57%).<\/p>\n <\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" … once again dominated for automaker<\/span> reach in February, led … 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics gave automakers<\/span> a prime opportunity to connect … Chevrolet (2.16%). The top automaker<\/span> ads by likeability according … than February's automotive<\/span> norm); Honda: The Power …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137624\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMercedes-Benz: Parallels<\/a> (2.91%), Subaru: Everything We Love<\/a> (2.37%), Acura: Olympics: Crafted for More<\/a> (2.17%) and Chevrolet: See the USA in Your Chevrolet<\/a> (2.16%).<\/p>\n
\nthan February’s automotive norm); Honda: The Power of Dreams<\/a> (+11.1%); Chevrolet: See the USA in Your Chevrolet<\/a> (+10.3%); Toyota: Dear All-Wheel Drive: Yours<\/a> (+9.2%) and Nissan: Go
\nRogue<\/a> (+8.4%).<\/p>\n