Dodge, Ram Trucks Harness the News With Most-Seen Auto TV Ads

The most common element between iSpot.tv’s top two automotive commercials for June 3-9 is that news-related programming dominated when it came to generating national TV ad impressions. For Dodge’s first-place spot, the news genre delivered over 30% of its total 173.9 million impressions, while the No.2 ad from Ram Trucks saw 21% of 147.3 million impressions coming from news. CBS Mornings was among the top programs by impressions for both spots, at No.4 for Dodge and No.1 for Ram Trucks. Additionally, MSNBC was the top impressions-generating network for each commercial. 

From the perspective of iSpot’s Creative Assessment, Dodge’s “Inner Child Intervention” really stands out: It had an overall Persuasion score 16.4% above industry norms, and ranked extremely high for attention, likeability, watchability and information compared not only to the other ads on the ranking, but to the automotive industry as a whole. Dodge harnessed humor and high-octane visuals, with one older (50+) female survey respondent noting, “I like the use of the child actor in the ad. The context made it funny as well as being a fast-paced ad that kept my attention from start to finish.”

Lexus takes third place with a commercial for the RX Hybrid that received 120.3 million national TV ad impressions. Sports-related programming played a key role, with ESPN delivering 9.8 million impressions, while Motor Trend Network generated 8.5 million and ESPN2 ran up 6.8 million. On the programming side of things, the 2024 Women’s College World Series (3.7 million impressions) topped the list, with SportsCenter close behind (3.4 million). According to iSpot’s Creative Assessment, this commercial had a 91% brand match (the percentage of survey respondents who remembered it was a Lexus ad after watching it), above the recent automotive industry norm of 75%. When asked about the ad’s “single best thing,” 34% of survey respondents cited the product itself. 

Compared to the other commercials on the chart, Genesis went in a different direction for its No.4 spot by leaning into reality TV programming, which delivered nearly 40% of its total 112.6 million national TV ad impressions. Food Network and HGTV were heavy hitters, generating 16.2 million and 10.3 million impressions, respectively, with TLC ranking third (8.5 million). Among its top five programs by impressions, only one wasn’t reality TV: The Big Bang Theory (5 million impressions), which was behind 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? (6.5 million) but ahead of House Hunters (4.4 million)

Subaru remains in fifth place week-over-week, with its spot “The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: Loves to Care” racking up 109 million national TV ad impressions. The automaker leveraged lower-cost placements across syndicated programming including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (9.6 million impressions), The Big Bang Theory (4.9 million) and Friends (2.6 million). 

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1. Dodge: Inner Child Intervention

Impressions: 173,869,141 

Interruption Rate: 2.78%

Attention Index: 87

Est. TV Spend: $798,229 

2. Ram Trucks: The Calling

Impressions: 147,283,320 

Interruption Rate: 3.35%

Attention Index: 89

Est. TV Spend: $948,099

3. Lexus: Paradox

Impressions: 120,263,839 

Interruption Rate: 2.10%

Attention Index: 83

Est. TV Spend: $475,327 

4. Genesis: Illuminated 

Impressions: 112,581,364 

Interruption Rate: 2.42%

Attention Index: 91

Est. TV Spend: $605,835 

5. Subaru: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: Loves to Care 

Impressions: 109,024,142 

Interruption Rate: 3.60%

Attention Index: 89

Est. TV Spend: $800,778 

Data provided by iSpot.tv, The New Standard for TV Ad Measurement

TV Impressions - Total TV ad impressions delivered for the brand or spot.

Interruption Rate - The percentage of devices that were present at the beginning of the ad but did not complete watching the ad. Actions that interrupt ad play include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV. The Interruption Rate is measured on a scale of 0 to 100%.

Attention Index - A comparison of the ad’s Interruption rate against its specific media placement. The Attention Index is measured on a scale of 0 to 200, where 100 is the average and means the ad is performing as expected.

Est. National TV Spend - Amount spent on TV airings for the brand’s spots.