Movie marketers no longer look at placing TV commercials on Thursday as the best night of the week for film marketing. Now highly viewed Sunday night gobbles up more Hollywood advertising spending, says an Advertising Age story by Anthony Crupi.
The old emphasis on Thursdays assumed that night was best for movie opening weekends Friday-through-Sunday. But with DVR delayed viewing, there is no assurance that Thursday TV advertisements will be seen soon enough to spur weekend moviegoing. TV ratings buys and audience measurement now include three (C3) or seven day (C7) delayed viewing in media buying plans.
“According to iSpot.tv data collected during the recently-concluded 2015-16 broadcast season (Sept. 21-May 25), studios invested $410.4 million, or nearly a quarter of their overall $1.77 billion spend, on Sunday TV inventory, while Thursday played second fiddle with $281.3 million in studio commitments,” says the Advertising Age story.
Says the third edition of the “Marketing To Moviegoers” book of the prior Thursday orientation, TV broadcasters “jacked up rates that night, which makes that evening a bonanza in network TV economics. Over the years, popular Thursday night TV series that are magnets for movie ads include CBS crime series ‘CSI’ and comedy ‘Big Bang Theory’ and ABC Television’s ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ which command around $200,000 per thirty-second commercial.” Costs were high because movie distributors couldn’t easily move to other days, unlike advertisers in categories like cars and soap, whose products are on the shelves year-round.
Movie advertising in TV primetime
| Day | Total spending (season) |
| Sunday | $410,367,544 |
| Thursday | $281,296,396 |
| Monday | $264,382,174 |
| Wednesday | $252,013,377 |
| Tuesday | $235,768,893 |
| Saturday | $165,544,304 |
| Friday | $160,145,516 |
Source: iSpot.tv
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