The top 5 wireless ads: Verizon embraces Samsung Galaxy S7 edge with $19.6M in December spending

FierceWireless has partnered with TV advertising attention analytics firm iSpot.tv to bring you a monthly snapshot of the wireless industry's advertising spending. The results below are for the top five biggest spenders among wireless industry brands from Dec. 1-31.

In December, 20 wireless brands spent an estimated $291 million on 114 national TV ad spots that aired 55,446 times. Once again Verizon leads the pack with 31.4% of the industry’s estimated spend, while AT&T moves up the ranks.

(Check out how these numbers compare with MayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctober and November.)

Here are the top five advertisers in the wireless industry during the month of December, and their top ads:

1. Verizon

The Verizon ad with the most spend (est. $19.6 million): “Quadruplets: Samsung Galaxy

Here are some other key facts about Verizon's spending in December:

  • spent an estimated $91.4 million on 21 spots that ran 12,732 times

  • generated 4.4 billion TV ad impressions

  • spent the most on these networks: NBC, CBS and Fox

  • spent the most on this programming: NFL Football, College Football and NBA Basketball

2. AT&T

The AT&T ad with the most spend (est. $17.3 million): “You Too

Here are some other key facts about AT&T's spending in December:

  • spent an estimated $46.5 million on 18 spots that ran 7,701 times

  • generated 1.9 billion TV ad impressions

  • spent the most on these networks: ESPN, CBS and ABC

  • spent the most on this programming: College Football, NFL Football and College Basketball

3. T-Mobile

The T-Mobile ad with the most spend (est. $23.9 million): “Holidays On Us: $800 Switch

Here are some other key facts about T-Mobile's spending in December:

  • spent an estimated $44.3 million on 14 spots that ran 8,463 times

  • generated 1.9 billion TV ad impressions

  • spent the most on these networks: NBC, ABC and CBS

  • spent the most on this programming: NFL Football, College Football and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

4. Sprint

The Sprint ad with the most spend (est. $18.6 million): “Tree Time”  

Here are some other key facts about Sprint's spending in December:

  • spent an estimated $44.2 million on 16 spots that ran 10,596 times

  • generated 1.5 billion TV ad impressions

  • spent the most on these networks: NBC, Fox and Univision

  • spent the most on this programming: NFL Football, College Football and The Walking Dead

5. MetroPCS

The MetroPCS ad with the most spend (est. $8.8 million): “Sideline”  

Here are some other key facts about MetroPCS' spending in December:

  • spent an estimated $23.7 million on 10 spots that ran 5,955 times

  • generated 1.5 billion TV ad impressions

  • spent the most on these networks: Fox, ESPN and ABC

  • spent the most on this programming: NBA Basketball, Bob’s Burgers and Impractical Jokers


iSpot's data does not include co-promotions or local market data. Click here for more on iSpot.tv's methodology.

The company's software leverages proprietary audio and video fingerprinting algorithms to automatically identify and extract TV commercials, movie trailers and show promos.  

The company tracks hundreds of millions of explicit interactions with TV ads across roughly 100 million unique consumersThese interactions include video plays, searches and social activity. The company also analyzes online views across YouTube and iSpot.tv, searches on Google, Bing and Yahoo! and social activity on Facebook (including Facebook private views) and Twitter.

The company tags over 40 different dimensions of metadata, including brand, agency, actors, products, songs, moods, URLs and other pertinent data, to create its results.