• by Tanya Gazdik , Yesterday

Automakers spent $280 million on estimated national TV spending in November, down 11.7% compared to $317 million in November 2024.

Year-to-date spending ($2 billion) is also down 8.3% compared to $2.2 billion in 2024, according to iSpot.tv.

Household TV ad impressions were also down, falling 21.8% year over year, 16.8 billion vs. 21.5 billion. Year-to-date household TV ad impressions were down 16% year-over-year to 193.7 billion vs. 230.6 billion. 

The top five brands by estimated national TV ad spending in November were Hyundai ($29.6 million), Honda ($26.5 million), Chevrolet ($26.1 million), Toyota ($26 million) and Nissan ($18.1 million).

Over 64% of total auto industry outlay in November went toward the NFL, and it was a top driver of spend for all of the top five automakers. Honda leaned in the most, with over 87% of its total budget for the month going to games.

The top programs for automakers by share of household TV ad impressions in November were NFL (29.84%), college football (19.96%), NBA (2.54%) MLB (1.57%) and men’s college basketball (1.43%). 

Eight of the top 10 programs by auto industry reach in November were sports-related. Industry reach during NFL games increased by 17.5% year-over-year, while men’s college basketball impressions were up 4.8%; On the flip side, college football and NBA impressions were down 15.5% and 25.1%, respectively. 

Nissan put nearly the same amount of spend toward the NFL as college football (42%). Top non-sports related programming by industry spend included the Latin Grammy Awards (0.87% spend SOV), the 99th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (0.41%) and The Big Bang Theory (0.28%).

“Automakers leaned into the festive season in November, with 14 of the 20 most-seen ads featuring holiday themes and/or special promotions,” Stuart Schwartzapfel, executive vice president of media partnerships at iSpot, tells Marketing Daily. “Football continues to deliver massive reach for auto brands, but news programming is a wide-open lane, as far fewer vehicle ads are showing up there despite the genre reaching a significant share of active auto buyers.”

The top five brands by share of automaker household TV ad impressions in November were Hyundai (10.79%), Toyota (8.57%), Chevrolet (7.47%), Ford (7.32%) and Nissan (7.06%).

The top five brands by share of voice on streaming in November were Hyundai (11.82%), Jeep (7.99%), Ram Trucks (7.65%), Toyota (6.38%) and Nissan (5.99%).

Three automakers made the top five by ad reach on both streaming and national linear TV: Hyundai, Toyota and Nissan. Jeep, which ranked second for streaming reach, was No. 12 on linear while Ram Trucks was No. 3 on streaming but No. 9 on linear. 

The most-seen automaker ads by share of household TV ad impressions in November 2025 were  Hyundai: "Holidays: Dad Santa" (4.25%), Genesis: "Holiday Window" (3.44%), Chevrolet: "Gearing Up for the Holidays" (3.26%), Hyundai: "Holidays: Mall Cop" (3.20%) and Volkswagen: "Gingerbread Dealership" (2.42%).

The top automaker ads by likeability among the top 20 most-seen ads in November were Genesis: "Holiday Window" (+10.8% more likeable than November automotive norm), Lexus: "Over the Years" (+10.6%), Subaru: "Support Charities Like Make-A-Wish" (+8.2%), Chevrolet: "Gearing Up for the Holidays" (+6.6%) and Subaru: "Going Too Far" (+6.6%).

The top automaker ads by positive purchase intent among the top 20 most-seen ads were  Subaru: "Going Too Far" (58%), Chevrolet: "Gearing Up for the Holidays" (57%), Genesis: "Holiday Window" (55%), Lexus: "Over the Years" (55%) and Subaru: "Support Charities Like Make-A-Wish" (52%).