• by Wayne Friedman , January 27, 2017

Total NFL national TV advertising -- for the regular season and playoff programming (excluding the Super Bowl) -- posted a slight 1.5% gain versus the same period of a year ago.

National TV advertising revenue totals $4.15 billion across five networks -- Fox, NBC, CBS, ESPN, and the NFL Network -- according to iSpot.tv. This comes from 715 national TV brands airing some 2,930 different creative spots.

A year before, NFL TV advertising totaled $4.09 billion --  680 brands airing 2,568 spots. This year, NFL regular-season ratings were down 8% in 2016 to a Nielsen 16.5 million viewers, from 17.9 million in 2015.

Earlier in the season, games were down by 15% or more.

Many games improved at the end of the season, including key competitive playoff games featuring well-known brand franchise names like the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots.

For example, CBS’ airing of the Pittsburgh-New England AFC Championship game was up 5% to 48 million. The week before, the Green Bay-Dallas divisional round game on Fox gained 13% to 48.5 million.

Big advertisers this year -- for the regular season and playoffs: Verizon, $186.5 million; National Football League, $109.1 million (with promotional availabilities); GEICO, $100.4 million; Chevrolet; $99.6 million; and Apple’s iPhone, $97.8 million.

Automotive marketers spent $899.5 million; electronic/communications/wireless. $339.7 million; insurance, $270.2 million; restaurants, $263.6 million; and electronics-mobile devices, $233.0 million.