Although estimated TV ad spend slightly increased from the previous 30-day period, the gaming industry saw a 22.26% decline in total ad impressions from mid-May to mid-June vs. mid-April to mid-May. PlayStation overtook Nintendo as the most-seen brand, and together the two accounted for nearly 80% of the industry’s total TV ad impressions.
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 May 16 through June 15.
In total, 14 brands spent an estimated $15.3 million on 40 spots that aired over 5,100 times, resulting in 740.4 million TV ad impressions.
Despite not starting to air ads until the last day of May, PlayStation takes first place with 324.7 million TV ad impressions generated by five spots that aired 1,300 times. The most-seen ad with 224.2 million impressions was “The Last of Us Part II: Morning Sun.” ESPN, Adult Swim, and TBS were three of the networks with the highest impression-counts, while top programming included SportsCenter, Family Guy, and First Take.
Second place goes to Nintendo, which aired 15 ads over 1,700 times, resulting in 264.9 million TV ad impressions. The top commercial by impressions (51.1 million) was “How We Play: Mario Kart 8,” promoting the Switch. SpongeBob SquarePants, The Loud House, and Big City Greens were three of the top shows by impressions; top networks included Nick, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network.
GameFly takes third place with 71.2 million TV ad impressions generated by six spots that ran 985 times. Its most-seen ad was “Spare Change,” with 19.4 million impressions. Top networks by impression-count included Laff TV, Comedy Central, and Nick; top programs driving impressions included South Park, SpongeBob SquarePants, and According to Jim.
At No. 4: Star Stable, which ran two spots 643 times, resulting in 45.1 million TV ad impressions. The commercial with the most impressions (36.4 million) was “Unbreakable Bond.” Star Stable only advertised on three networks: Nick, Teen Nick, and Nick@Nite. Top programs by impressions included SpongeBob SquarePants, The Loud House, and Victorious.
Rounding out the ranking is MLB Advanced Media Video Games with 14.7 million TV ad impressions generated by a single ad, “R.B.I. Baseball 20: Home Runs,” which aired 267 times. The brand focused on reaching sports fans, with MLB Network, ESPN, and Fox Sports 1 among the networks generating high impression-counts, while top programming included reruns of MLB baseball games, the 2020 MLB draft, and Greatest Games: MLB.