From Oct. 16 through Nov. 15, gaming brands generated 1.49 billion TV ad impressions, a slight decline from the previous 30-day period’s 1.54 billion. PlayStation led the pack and increased its share from 42.2% to 47%.
Once again, sports were key drivers of impressions for all of the top brands except Nintendo. Looking at the industry overall, NFL games led for impressions (340.2 million), followed by college football (172.7 million) and SportsCenter (105.5 million). Thanks to Nintendo’s ongoing investment in SpongeBob SquarePants, the children’s show was No. 4 for impressions for the industry overall (43.6 million).
GamesBeat has partnered with iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company, to bring you a monthly report on TV advertising by the gaming industry. These are the ads, and by extension the games, that game marketers have been putting major muscle behind.
Below are the top five most-seen gaming industry TV advertisers from the period measured.
PlayStation remains an industry powerhouse, racking up 701 million TV ad impressions from ten spots that aired over 892 times. Its most-seen commercial (258.4 million impressions) was “Launch: Play Has No Limits,” promoting the PlayStation 5. Top programming driving impressions: college football, the NFL, and SportsCenter; top networks included ESPN, ABC, and CBS.
With 323.6 million TV ad impressions, Nintendo takes second place. The brand aired 29 commercials over 1,800 times, with “Imagination,” promoting Mario Kart Live Home Circuit, as its most-seen spot (125.5 million impressions). Per usual, top shows for Nintendo included SpongeBob SquarePants, The Loud House, and Big City Greens, while top networks delivering impressions included Nick, Disney Channel, and Nick Toons.
At No. 3: Xbox, which was mostly quiet in the second half of October before coming back big in November. Its three spots ran 209 times, generating 245.1 million TV ad impressions. The commercial with the highest impression-count (173.3 million) was “A New Life,” promoting Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla’s Gold Edition. As we saw with PlayStation, Xbox hit sports programming hard: NFL games, NFL on FOX Pregame, and FOX NFL Thursday Pregame led for impressions, while top networks included ESPN, Fox, and CBS.
Activision, which was quiet until the very end of October, takes fourth place with 89.8 million TV ad impressions. The brand aired four spots a mere 14 times, and with 62.2 million impressions, “The Threat,” promoting Call of Duty: Black Ops — Cold War, was its most-seen commercial. Activision only aired spots during the NFL and the 2020 Toy Awards. Top networks by impressions included Fox, NBC, and ESPN.
EA Sports rounds out the ranking with 52.6 million TV ad impressions generated by six spots that aired 186 times. Half of all impressions came from a single day — Nov. 2 — propelled by Monday Night Football. EA’s most-seen ad, with 36.7 million impressions, was “A New Era Feat. The Spokesplayer,” featuring King Keraun and promoting Madden NFL 21. ESPN, NFL Network, and ESPN Deportes were the top impressions-driving networks, while top programming included the NFL, NFL GameDay Morning, and SportsCenter.
