Spending was up from $195.6 million to $216.1 million. March household TV ad impressions also were up 3.9% year over year, from 25.6 billion to 26.6 billion.  

The top five brands by estimated national TV ad spending for the month were Nissan ($26.1 million), Buick ($23.1 million), GMC ($22.2 million), Jeep ($11.3 million) and Acura ($10.6 million).

The most-seen automaker ads in March. 2023 were Hyundai: Own Every Mile: Key West (6.20%), Chevrolet: Best-Selling (3.15%), GMC: Outside and In (2.43%), Cadillac: Enter Ordinary. Exit Extraordinary (2.41%) and Dodge: Swarming the Nation (2.11%).

Nissan had a 49.9% year-over-year increase in estimated national TV ad spend in March, as the automaker upped its airings during both men’s and women’s college basketball (+5.8% YoY and +68.9%, respectively). 

Buick was also on the basketball bandwagon, with a notable increase in investment for women’s games, spending 427% more YoY. Meanwhile, the automaker also increased spend during men’s games by 31.4% year-over-year. GMC, notably, went almost all-in on men’s basketball: 96.6% of its TV ad spend went toward men’s games, per iSpot.tv. 

The top five brands by share of automaker household TV ad impressions for the month were Chevrolet (9.52%), Nissan (7.95%), Hyundai (6.66%), Lexus (6.61%) and Toyota (5.93%).

The biggest estimated spend increases among top 15 brands by spend, year over year for March was Mazda, followed by Volvo (+411%), Dodge (+258%), Acura  (+62%) and  Nissan (+50%).

Mazda — which only spent an estimated $5 million on TV advertising during the entirety of 2022 — burst back onto the scene in March 2023 with an estimated outlay of $7.7 million (the brand did not spend on national TV ads at all in March 2022). Nearly all (96%) of that went toward airings during men’s college basketball games, per iSpot.tv.

Volvo’s increase in spend is largely thanks in part to an ad airing during The Oscars telecast, which comprised 64.8% of its total estimated spend for March 2023. Additionally, it advertised during episodes of "The Bachelor" and "Grey’s Anatomy" — programs it did not advertise during in March 2022. 

Dodge was another brand that made some changes from last year: In March 2022 most of its college basketball outlay was pre-March Madness, while this year it focused on the big-ticket tournament games, resulting in a 3064% investment increase in men’s basketball. Dodge also ran an ad during The Oscars telecast (it did not in 2022). 

The top programs for automakers by share of household TV ad impressions for the month were men’s college basketball (17.81%), NBA (2.91%), women’s college basketball (2.31%), SportsCenter (1.46%) and PGA Tour Golf (1.44%).

Overall, sports played a huge part in generating TV ad impressions for automakers during the month, but it wasn’t just the seasonal basketball action; golf, baseball and NASCAR were additional heavyweights. 

For years, automakers have rallied primarily around men’s March Madness games, says Stuart Schwartzapfel, EVP, media partnerships at iSpot.tv.

"But we’re starting to see a heavier investment going toward the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament as well,”  Schwartzapfel tells Marketing Daily. "As the reach opportunity during the women’s event continues to rise, it’s likely other top advertisers will flock to it as a point of positive differentiation.”

Of the top 10 programs by household ad impressions by share of voice, only two were not sports-related ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" at No. 8 and "Today" at No. 10), compared with March 2022 where four of the top ten programs were not sports-related. 

Of the top five, women’s college basketball had the highest year-over-year impressions increase, 177.9%, while t PGA Tour golf saw a 45% YoY increase, and SportsCenter impressions increased by 25%. 

The top networks by share of automaker TV ad impressions in March were CBS (12.98%), ESPN (6.95%), NBC (5.82%), ABC (5.26%) and TBS (4.77%).

Predictably, CBS takes first place for household TV ad impressions SOV thanks to men’s college basketball, which had a 73.4% SOV for automakers on the network; TBS benefitted similarly, with men’s games accounting for an impressions SOV of 75.6%. 

ESPN’s year-over-year SOV growth (from 4.78% in March 2022 to 6.95% this year) was driven primarily by a 446.3% increase in impressions for women’s basketball on the network. For NBC, Today, NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt and PGA Tour golf were the top three impressions-driving programs, with Lester Holt seeing a 126.7% year-over-year increase in automaker impressions.