TV ad impressions in the second half of 2025 shifted away from discretionary categories to infrastructure and essentials, with utilities climbing 48%, insurance rising 18% and pharma growing 12% in impressions, according to a new report from ad data and measurement firm Samba TV.
The report, “State of Advertising U.S. | H2 2025,” found the decline in discretionary categories was a response to “the weight of consumer caution,” according to Samba, known for Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology.
Of the top 20 advertisers, 15 increased spending. Overall, 56% of the top 100 U.S. advertisers increased TV ad impressions year-over-year. Household items, such as Febreze and Downy, as well as the pharmaceutical Tremfya, saw ad spending grow, while legacy brands like Toyota, Chase and Domino’s declined.
By category, the categories with the biggest percentage of ad-impression declines included career services, down 30% from H2 2024; apparel, footwear and accessories, down 18%; and food and beverage, down 13%, the report said.
The report also found that brands reached “the wrong audiences” and were “wasting ad dollars.” Samba based that conclusion on a “deep dive” into car-insurance advertising.
“TV ads are landing with aspirational, lifestyle-oriented consumers, while the value-conscious households actually in-market for a new policy are clustered elsewhere online,” resulting in an audience mismatch that means “billions in TV spend are being misallocated,” according to Samba. The company is able to determine there’s a problem based on its ability “to fuse TV viewership data with online behavior signals,” the report said.
The report revealed consumers who searched online for car insurance terms clustered around home interests like home décor and parenting, while audiences exposed to car insurance ads on TV clustered around fitness and nutrition and travel.
Among the top 20 U.S. advertisers based on year-over-year growth in ad impressions, the leader was mobile gaming company Dream Games, up more than 28,646%; cat-food brand Sheba, up 13,611%; movie maker 20th Century Studios, up 8,118%; and The Wellness Co., up 6,516%, the report said.
To request a copy of the report, visit the Samba website. Registration is required.
