Who’s Still Advertising with Tucker Carlson at the End of Q2 2021?
Whether Tucker Carlson's under surveillance from the NSA or not (he's not), his Fox News show has continued to rankle critics new and old. In Q2 alone, he managed to talk replacement theory, push anti-vaccination theories, and call the Joint Chiefs of Staff a "pig," spawning cries for USAA to pull ads from his program.
With all of that in mind, it seemed worthwhile to check in on which brands are still advertising during Tucker Carlson Tonight through it all (here's Q1 2021 for comparison). Using data from iSpot.tv, we found 201 advertisers (networks, brands, non-profits) appeared during live (first run) national TV episodes of the show during Q2 2021. In June, that number was just 62. As we've done in the past, here are the top advertisers by airing during the final week of June (June 24-30), ranked by airings.
Notably, Fox News and Fox Nation made up almost 24% of TV ad impressions during Tucker Carlson Tonight in the last seven days of June, with My Pillow accounting for another 11% -- according to data from iSpot. Balance of Nature (a supplement brand) is the only other advertiser to account for more than 5% of impressions during the show. It's worth adding that USAA didn't advertise during new episodes of Carlson's show from June 24-30, and actually never appeared in June during live episodes of the program. In fact, USAA hasn't aired a single ad during Tucker Carlson Tonight since Sept. 28, 2019. Its last appearance during a live airing was the day before, on Sept. 27. Meanwhile, USAA's spent an estimated $6 million on TV ads during other Fox News shows since the start of 2021.
For all of Q2, about 22% of TV ad impressions during first-run airings of Tucker Carlson Tonight came from Fox News or Fox Nation, while My Pillow accounted for over 6%. Balance of Nature (7.7%) and Relief Factor (5.8%) were the other brands to top 5% for the quarter. For live airings only, 23% of TV ad impressions during the show came from network and streaming spots, with another 12% from vitamin and supplement brands. Nearly 10% came from over-the-counter pain relief brands, and another 6% came from furniture and bedding (all My Pillow).
In many cases, Fox News is the primary places a lot of these top Tucker advertisers appear on TV. Nearly 97% of Balance of Nature TV ad impressions came from Fox News (12.5% from Carlson) in Q2, with the rest attributed to Newsmax or Fox Business. Over 86% of My Pillow's TV ad impressions come on Fox News (19.3% during Tucker), with almost 11% on Newsmax, and then less than 1% each on networks like Fox Business, RFD TV, Up TV and Hallmark (along with a few others).
Some of the other network breakdowns for Tucker Carlson Tonight's top advertisers (by impressions) during Q2:
Relief Factor: Nearly 100% of impressions appear on Fox News
Pure Talk USA: 94% Fox News, 6% on Newsmax
Tommie Copper: 51% Fox News, 14% on Game Show Network
Qunol: 35% Fox News, 18% on MSNBC
Goldwater Firm: 41% Fox News, 12% on Grit TV, 10% on Newsmax
X-Chair: 70% on Fox News, 7% ESPNEWS
As many larger brands have ceased advertising on Carlson's show over the years, there are still those sticking around -- in part, perhaps, due to the exposure they receive there that they don't elsewhere on TV. Obviously some of these brands are more obscure than others. But it's clear for all of these brands that Fox News and Carlson are large parts of their media buying strategy, and for now, they're willing to take on the risks that come with that.
