Who are the biggest TV advertisement spenders as we head into the holidays?
With the holiday season just around the corner, there’s no better time to examine which companies are dishing out the most money for TV advertisements, and while many of the names on the top-10 biggest TV ad spenders are nearly identical to last year’s, the amount each company has spent has increased drastically.
The top TV marketing industries remain the same as they were in 2018, with retail, insurance and communications companies topping the list, according to iSpot.tv, but the amount spent totals $741.7 million in November, a 10 percent increase compared to the $672 million this time last year, according to Media Post.
Insurance giant Geico tops the national/regional TV ad spending list, having paid $121.8 million to air 32,273 commercials across 98 different advertisement spots. Next is telecommunications company Verizon, which spent $81.9 million for 13,011 airings of 61 different commercials, then Walmart with $76.2 million, which got it 15,496 airings of 67 different commercials.
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Progressive Insurance comes in next with $76.8 million, netting it 11,922 airings of 29 different commercials, followed by T-Mobile, which spent $75.4 million for 12,442 airings of 71 creative spots.
Making its way down the list, State Farm, another insurance company, spent $73.9 million for 13,620 airings of 69 different commercial spots, with retail giant Target coming in next with $70.3 million for 16,109 airings of 69 different commercial spots, and Amazon coming in surprisingly low at $59.2 million for 10,226 commercial airings for 23 different spots, according to Media Post.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WMT | WALMART INC. | 92.50 | +0.62 | +0.67% |
| VZ | VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. | 44.34 | -0.04 | -0.09% |
| PGR | PROGRESSIVE CORP. | 268.88 | +2.02 | +0.76% |
| TMUS | T-MOBILE US INC. | 246.94 | +0.74 | +0.30% |
| STFGX | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |
| TGT | TARGET CORP. | 130.75 | -1.65 | -1.24% |
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 207.89 | +2.15 | +1.05% |
| T | AT&T INC. | 23.16 | -0.11 | -0.47% |
| ALL | THE ALLSTATE CORP. | 207.39 | +0.11 | +0.05% |
Rounding out the bottom of the spending list is AT&T Wireless with $54.8 million, earning it only 4,687 airings for 36 commercial spots, and finally Allstate, which paid $52.6 million for 9,505 airings of 17 different commercial spots.
GENERATIONAL HOLIDAY SPENDING FOR 2019
Compared to last year, Target is the only company to fall out of the top-five TV advertising spenders, with T-Mobile taking its spot in 2019, with the telecommunications company paying just $54.5 million last year, nearly $20 million less than it did for 2019. For last year’s top five, Geico paid $118.1 million in November, Walmart $75.9, Verizon $71.3 million, Progressive $67.3 million and then Target with $64.5 million, Media Post reports.
Last year's list also saw the inclusion of Universal Pictures, which had paid $58.4 million, Facebook Portal with $55 million, Ford Motor Company at $54.1 million, as well as McDonald’s, which spent $53 million in 2018 for seasonal commercial airtime.