• by Wayne Friedman , January 18, 2024

Although household TV ad impressions and TV advertising airings grew in 2023, national TV advertising spend fell 4.7% to $43.71 billion versus 2022, according to iSpot.tv.

For much of the first half of the year, there was widespread softness in the TV advertising market -- especially in near-term “scatter” market deal-making. 

There were also unfavorable comparisons to the year before, when the Winter Olympics aired and mid-term political elections were held.

The TV/media measurement company said national household impressions inched up 1.8% to 8.5 trillion, with national TV ad airings rising 2.2% to 44.5 million. Total national TV advertising minutes also grew 2.2% to 18.4 million.

Looking to meet the demand of brands amid declining linear TV reach and ratings points, the big four broadcast networks aired 2.9% more minutes of national advertising in prime time in 2023. 

While streaming platforms are rapidly growing, those channels' advertising loads are much lighter than linear TV networks -- just about five minutes per hour. 

The top networks in terms of TV advertising impressions include CBS, which commands a 7.2% share; ABC at 6.5%; NBC with 5.5%; Fox News Channel at 3.8%; Ion Network with 2.7%; ESPN at 2.7%; and Fox Television Network with 2.5%.

As would be expected, in the top slot for programming in terms of TV ad impressions is the NFL on all the big four broadcast TV networks (and their streaming platforms) --  with a 3% share. 

College football had a 1.7% share, followed by “Law & Order” with 1.3%; NBC at 1.2%; and “Friends,” “Good Morning America” and “NCIS” each with a 0.9% share.