Data: Pharma’s Premium TV Ad Placement Strategy

The prescription pharmaceutical industry is a mainstay in TV advertising, and iSpot's latest TV transparency report reveals how brands are putting a focus on premium placements to achieve wide reach. Over half of pharma’s national TV ad spend in 2024 went to just five networks (the big four broadcasters, plus ESPN), with sports and news programming commanding notable shares of investment. 

• Prescription pharma brands spent over $5.15 billion advertising on national linear TV in 2024, representing 11.6% of total ad dollars. 
• That outlay resulted in 1.58 million minutes of advertising and over 413 billion ad impressions. ABC, CBS, Fox, ESPN and NBC delivered a combined 35.8% of Rx brands’ household TV ad impressions.
• The NFL accounted for 8.7% of the pharma industry’s estimated national linear TV ad spend, and Rx brands aired 12% more ads during NFL games in 2024 compared to 2023.
• Pfizer in particular zeroed in on the NFL, generating over 14% of total ad impressions during games — five percentage points above the No. 2 brand, Skyrizi. 
• The top three most likeable pharma ads from 2024 were Kisqali’s “Jordan,” Pfizer’s “Here’s to Science” and Airsupra’s “Dino.” 

For more insights, download iSpot’s pharma report here.