TV Season Ad Recap: Top Brands, Networks, Shows

The 2020-21 TV season was anything but typical. The pandemic-induced changes affected everything from programming schedules and production to approaches to ad creative and even the ad dollars brands were able to put toward TV. With upfronts upon us, this report summarizes the last year of TV advertising and provides key insights to inform TV planning and buying for 2021-22.

Key takeaways from this extensive TV ad recap, spanning September 2020 to May 2021:

• CBS garnered the most TV ad impressions of any network, on the strength of the NFL and daytime programming
• Drama & action and movies were the top show genres on TV in terms of TV ad impressions
• GEICO was TV’s top brand advertiser by overall impressions during the timeframe and also had the most primetime TV ad impressions across ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC
• Hallmark was the top cable channel by TV ad impressions during the timeframe