• by Tanya Gazdik , Yesterday

Automakers spent an estimated $162.4 million on national linear TV in March, down 31% compared to $235.2 million in March 2025. 

Year-to-date spending is also down, according to iSpot.tv. 

First quarter estimated national linear TV spending totaled $619.7 million, down 20.5% compared to $779.7 in the same period in 2025.

March household TV ad impressions totaled 14.9 billion, down 25.9% year-over-year computed to 20.1 billion in March 2025, per iSpot.tv. 

Year-to-date household TV ad impressions were down 21.9%, coming in at 44.2 billion vs. 56.6 billion. 

The top five brands by estimated national linear TV ad spending were Volkswagen ($18 million), Ford ($14.3 million), Acura ($13.1 million), Mazda ($11.3 million) and Jeep ($10.1 million).

Men’s college basketball (including the NCAA Tournament) accounted for over 50% of auto industry spend in March, with The Oscars in a distant second (7.87% spend SOV).

“March was dominated by basketball, and auto advertisers were front-and-center with it,” Stuart Schwartzapfel, executive vice president of media partnerships at iSpot.tv tells Marketing Daily. “While March Madness games remain essential for reach, they were also automakers’ best chance to get messaging in front of their most important target audience: potential vehicle buyers who help drive sales outcomes.”

All of the top five automakers advertised during both men’s and women’s college basketball games, and four also invested in the NBA (Mazda was the outlier there).

Of the top five automakers, Acura prioritized men’s college basketball the most, with games accounting for over 96% of its total outlay for the month.

The top five brands by share of automaker household TV ad impressions were  Ford (9.48%), Volkswagen (8.83%), Chevrolet (8.12%), Subaru (7.80%) and Lexus (7.13%).

The top five brands by share of voice on streaming were Jeep (9.61%), Volkswagen (9.13%), Hyundai (8.17%), Chevrolet (7.88%) and Nissan (7.07%).

Eight of the top 10 programs by automaker reach were sports-related. Even though men’s college basketball dominated, reach was down 41.5% year-over-year. Women’s college basketball declined by 19.4%, while NBA was up 13% compared to March 2025.

iSpot’s industry-first advanced audience ranker showcases the programs reaching the highest share of households interested in buying a new car. These consumers watched at least one hour of live national linear TV in March. 

The most-seen automaker ads by share of household TV ad impressions were  Volkswagen: The Most Fun Brand (5.69%), Chevrolet: This Is Who We Are (3.55%), Hyundai: Spilling Tea (2.94%), Ram Trucks: Pledging Our Allegiance (2.60%) and Jeep: Billy Bass Goes to the River (2.57%).

The top automaker ads by likeability according to iSpot,tv were Jeep: Billy Bass Goes to the River (+8.5% more likeable than March automotive norm), Kia: Sea Lion (+6.9%), Mazda: The Scenic Route (+6.6%), Ford: Proud Sponsor of Winter (+6.3%) and Kia: Relationship Tripping (+6%).

As part of iSpot's creative assessment survey, likeability measures an ad's ability to appeal to viewers, based on results from the survey prompt “I like this ad.”

The top automaker ads by positive purchase intent were Ford: The Off-Road to Greatness (53%), Honda: Go for Honda: CR-V (53%), Jeep: Billy Bass Goes to the River (51%), Dodge: Pledging Our Allegiance (51%) and Mazda: The Scenic Route (50%).

Positive purchase intent is the share of creative assessment survey respondents that indicated they were "more" or "much more" likely to purchase a product or service after seeing an ad.

All of the top five most-seen auto ads aired during NBA games, and four of them also aired during men’s college basketball (Hyundai was the outlier there). Additionally, ads from Volkswagen, Ram Trucks and Jeep aired during women’s college basketball, according to iSpot.tv.