March Madness games were a key driver of reach for all of the top five automaker TV ads, per iSpot’s analysis for March 17-23. While the men’s games were the primary focus, four of the five spots on the chart also activated around the women’s NCAA tournament games to varying degrees (Cadillac was the outlier).
Jeep takes first place with a sales promotion that racked up 215.7 million national TV ad impressions. While men’s college basketball generated 17.3% of total impressions, news programming was another focus: CBS Mornings ranked second, delivering 3.3% of total impressions, and another 2.1% came from Deadline: White House. Additionally, MSNBC and Fox News were two of the top networks, accounting for 14.3% and 9.3% of total impressions, respectively. According to iSpot’s Creative Assessment, this ad scored above the norm for attention, likeability and desire.
Ford’s second-place spot highlights the rugged versatility of the ’25 Maverick and ’25 Bronco Sport models. Of the ads on the ranking, this one leaned into March Madness the most, with the men’s games generating 91.1% of its total 187.3 million national TV ad impressions. The women’s games accounted for another 1.4%, followed by the NBA (1%). Top networks by impressions included CBS (49.6%), TNT (15.6%) and truTV (14.9%).
The No. 3 ad from GMC, which received 169.7 million national TV ad impressions, showcases various Sierra models in action. Men’s March Madness games delivered 66.5% of total impressions, followed by The Big Bang Theory reruns (1.6%) and Fox News Live (1.7%). On the network side of things, CBS led with 37.6% of total impressions, followed by truTV (11.3%) and TBS (9.4%).
Nissan’s fourth-place spot for the Armada features a family following a bear through the wilderness in order to find the best fishing spot. This ad stood out from a creative perspective: The visual scenes were cited as the “single best thing” about the ad by 30% of surveyed viewers. It also performed above average for attention, likeability, watchability, desire and relevance, with a persuasion score of 8.3%, about the automotive norm. Additionally, this commercial inspired notable purchase intent, with 53% of surveyed viewers saying they were “more” or “much more” likely to purchase after viewing the ad. Men’s college basketball generated 86.1% of its total 136.8 million national TV ad impressions, with another 6% coming from women’s college basketball and 4% from NCAA Pre-Game.
Cadillac rounds out the ranking with a spot for the Escalade that received 117.8 million national TV ad impressions, 63% of which came from primetime ad airings. Across all dayparts, men’s college basketball generated 42.3% of total impressions, and another 15.5% came from Opry 100: A Live Celebration. Per iSpot’s Creative Assessment, this spot had an 86% brand match (the percentage of survey respondents who remembered it was a Cadillac ad after watching it), above the recent automaker industry norm of 80%.
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1. Jeep: Write Your Owner’s Manual
Impressions: 215,700,594
Interruption Rate: 3.83%
Attention Index: 84
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $2,043,004
2. Ford: Maybe
Impressions: 187,321,262
Interruption Rate: 3.60%
Attention Index: 119
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $7,763,301
3. GMC: Knowledge Put to the Test
Impressions: 169,729,875
Interruption Rate: 3.61%
Attention Index: 80
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $5,381,242
4. Nissan: March Madness: Adventure Bigger
Impressions: 136,846,431
Interruption Rate: 3.15%
Attention Index: 117
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $4,797,637
5. Cadillac: Nights Like These: Escalade
Impressions: 117,795,981
Interruption Rate: 3.12%
Attention Index: 92
Est. National TV Ad Spend: $2,569,294
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.
