Wireless wars are in high gear as carriers bombard the airwaves with spots promoting deals on cellular plans and the latest devices for the holiday season. Three carriers are among radio’s top 15 advertisers, five in the top 25, and seven in the top 100 for the week of Nov. 20-26.
Boost Infinite leads the category with 58,166 spots, returning to the No. 2 position it first occupied the week of Oct. 30 – Nov. 5. The Dish Wireless service is closely followed by sister brand Boost Mobile at No. 6 with 36,461 spots, followed by TracFone Wireless’ Straight Talk at No. 15 with 26,973 occurrences. Verizon Wireless is next at No. 21, followed by Metro By T-Mobile at No. 66, Consumer Cellular at No. 79, and T-Mobile at No. 86.
With the holiday shopping season in full swing, retailers of all stripes have ramped up their radio buys. Online retail giant Amazon logs a fourth straight week as a top 10 radio advertiser with 34,627 airings to rank seventh. Among department stores, Macy’s stays on top at No. 12, with Target at No. 13, Kohl’s at No. 27, and JC Penney at No. 41.
Bedding retailers are out in force led by Mattress Firm with 33,279 spots (moving 5-10). Sleep Number placed 8,298 to finish at No. 81. In addition, footwear retailers have turned up the volume, including Boot Barn (No. 29), Skechers (No. 31), Famous Footwear (No. 59), and the Good Feet Store (No. 90).
The Centers For Disease Control is back in the top five for the first time in nearly a year. After taking the summer months off, CDC returned to the radio in early September, when it ranked as high as No. 13. Now with the flu, COVID-19 and RSV widespread, the government health agency has put the pedal to the metal with 40,327 spot occurrences to rocket up 61-5 on the Media Monitors radio spot count chart.
Apart from CDC, ULTA Beauty makes one of the biggest leaps of the week, rising 18-9 with 33,848 spots for the hair and beauty products retailer.
For the week of Nov. 20-26, 2023, the top 10 on the Media Monitors tally are Lowe’s at 1, Boost Infinite at 2, Vicks at 3, the Home Depot at 4, the Centers For Disease Control at 5, Boost Mobile at 6, Amazon.com at 7, Discover at 8, ULTA Beauty at 9, and Mattress Firm at 10.
