All of the top five auto ads, as ranked by iSpot’s national TV ad impressions for March 31 through April 6, harnessed college and/or NBA basketball to achieve wide reach. Notably, the first-place ad from Genesis stands out not only from a reach perspective, but from a creative aspect as well (more on that below).
The No. 1 commercial from Genesis received 186.1 million national TV ad impressions, and of the five ads on the chart, it leaned into women’s college basketball the most: Women’s March Madness games delivered 11% of the total impressions, while the NBA generated 7.3%. In addition to being the most-seen auto ad of the week, it performed notably well with iSpot’s Creative Assessment, outscoring recent automotive norms for attention, watchability, relevance and likeability. The colorful, artsy shots sparked viewer reactions/emotions including “curiosity,” “cinematic” and “upscale,” with 46% of survey respondents saying the visual scenes were the “single best thing” about the spot. This commercial also inspired notable purchase intent, with 55% of surveyed viewers saying they were “more” or “much more” likely to purchase after viewing the ad.
Hyundai takes second place with an ad highlighting various features of the ’25 Tucson that keep drivers safe, no matter what the road has in store. Nearly 73% of its total 121.5 million national TV ad impressions came from primetime ad airings. Across all dayparts, men’s college and NBA basketball ruled for reach, with a single airing during the Final Four game between Houston and Duke generating 11% of the ad’s total impressions for the week (NBA games accounted for 7.2% of total impressions).
At No. 3: A Kia spot proclaiming that the K4 and K5 models represent “the next movement for innovation.” The NBA was the primary reach driver, delivering 15.9% of the commercial’s total 110.9 million national TV ad impressions. NHL games generated another 4.2%, followed by Survivor (3.9%). On the network side of things, Telemundo and TNT were neck-and-neck for impressions, accounting for 12.5% and 12.2% of the total, respectively, while another 10.1% came from Food Network.
In Jeep’s fourth-place ad, Harrison Ford declares that “the most sacred thing in life isn’t the path, it’s the freedom to choose it.” (A longer version of this commercial debuted during Super Bowl LIX.) Men’s Final Four games generated 24.4% of the spot’s total 98.9 million national TV ad impressions, way ahead of the NBA (4.1%). Other top programming by impressions included CBS Mornings (11.7%) and Survivor (4.4%). Thanks in part to the men’s Final Four, CBS dominated for network impressions, accounting for 43.3% of the total.
Nissan rounds out the ranking with a spot for the Murano that had 91.9 million national TV ad impressions. It was the only ad on the chart that aired during both men’s and women’s college basketball games. Men’s Final Four games accounted for 27.8% of total impressions, while women’s games generated 18%. According to iSpot’s Creative Assessment, this commercial had an 87% brand match (the percentage of survey respondents who remembered it was a Nissan ad after watching it), above the recent automaker norm of 80%
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Impressions: 186,065,667
Interruption Rate: 2.10%
Attention Index: 98
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $1,592,240
Impressions: 121,459,335
Interruption Rate: 2.55%
Attention Index: 105
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $2,009,224
Impressions: 110,892,305
Interruption Rate: 3.00%
Attention Index: 108
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $1,302,125
Impressions: 98,919,327
Interruption Rate: 2.63%
Attention Index: 99
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $2,004,231
Impressions: 91,918,281
Interruption Rate: 1.48%
Attention Index: 106
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $959,940
Data provided by iSpot, The New Standard for TV Ad Measurement.
Chart positions and other data may be updated in iSpot’s database as additional airings information becomes available.
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.
