Gaming brands spent an estimated $28.1 million on TV advertising in October — a 28.73% decrease from September’s outlay of $39.5 million and a 53.32% decrease from October 2019. Together, PlayStation and Nintendo made up over 75% of the industry’s total spend. Overall, 11 brands aired 54 spots over 5,200 times, generating 1.2 billion TV ad impressions. Sports, particularly football, remained a key driver of impressions for gaming brands.
GamesBeat has partnered with iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution platform, to bring you a monthly report on how gaming brands are spending. The results below are for the top five gaming-industry brands in October, ranked by estimated national TV ad spend.
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PlayStation takes first place, spending an estimated $13.2 million airing seven spots 546 times, resulting in 474.9 million TV ad impressions. The top commercial by spend (est. $5.4 million) was “The Edge: Play Has No Limits.” The brand focused spend on reaching a sports-loving audience, with top programming including college football, the NFL, and the NBA. Top networks by outlay included ABC, ESPN, and CBS.
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Second place goes to Nintendo with an estimated outlay of $8.2 million on 23 spots that ran 2,700 times, generating 394.3 million TV ad impressions. “Imagination,” promoting Mario Kart Live Home Circuit, had the biggest spend (est. $2.2 million). SpongeBob SquarePants, The Loud House, and The Amazing World of Gumball were three of the top shows by spend — but it’s worth noting that the NFL was No. 4. Top networks by spend included Nick, Cartoon Network, and Nick Toons.
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At No. 3: EA Sports, which spent an estimated $2.7 million on 873 airings of six spots, resulting in 94.1 million TV ad impressions. Notably, the top commercial by spend ($1.9 million) was the Spanish-language “Fútbol es mi vida,” featuring Carlos Vela. Top networks by outlay included ESPN Deportes, NFL Network, and ESPN; top programming included the NBA, the NFL, and college football.
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Xbox takes fourth place with an estimated spend of $2.4 million on three spots that aired 72 times, generating 109.9 million TV ad impressions. Over half of that outlay (est. $1.5 million) was for one commercial, “Us Dreamers: Power Your Dreams,” promoting the new Series S and Series X consoles. Xbox solely focused on reaching sports-watchers, with the NFL, NBA, and MLB leading for programming, and top networks including ABC, NBC, and ESPN.
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Activision rounds out the ranking with an estimated outlay of $518,141 on two spots that only aired four times, resulting in 13.8 million TV ad impressions. Most of that budget (est. $482,302) was put toward “The Threat,” promoting Call of Duty: Black Ops — Cold War. Activision spots only aired during the NFL and the 2020 Toy Awards, and the only three networks were Fox, NFL Network, and Fox Sports 2.