According to TV ad analytics firm iSpot.tv, which monitors exactly which ads air on TV shows using real-time data pulled from a national panel of 10 million smart TVs, the Thursday episode of "O'Reilly" had just seven national advertisers: The Laser Spine Institute, Rosland Capital, Coventry Direct, Life Credit Company, 1-800 Beaches, Ring and Sirius/XM Satellite Radio. The 8 p.m. episode did end 15 minutes early so the network could cut to news on Syria and did not make its usual 11 p.m. repeat, but in recent days would have featured far more marketers even in 45 minutes.
The Wednesday, April 5, show had ads from 31 different brands, including Angie's List, which has indicated it will stick by the show. (See "Angie's List rejects O'Reilly boycott: Trusts members to 'make their own' decisions," from The Washington Post.)
The Tuesday, April 4, show had ads from 49 different brands.
And the show on Monday, April 3, had ads from 55 different brands. A spot check of iSpot's "O'Reilly Factor" ad load each night since the start of the year shows that a brand count in the 40-to-50 range was typical. The number varied based on the volume of 0:30 vs. 0:60 ads and how many individual advertisers ran their spots more than once per night.
"We value our partners and are working with them to address their current concerns about the 'O'Reilly Factor,'" Paul Rittenberg, exec VP of advertising sales-Fox News, said in a statement. "At this time, the ad buys of those clients have been re-expressed into other FNC programs."
Brands that have publicly said they've pulled their ads from "The O'Reilly Factor" now number more than 50 and include Advil, Ancestry.com, Bausch & Lomb, BMW, Coldwell Banker, Esurance, Jenny Craig, Geico, GlaxoSmithKline, H&R Block, Hyundai, Infiniti, Land Rover, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, T. Rowe Price and Wayfair.
Jenny Craig, Mercedes-Benz and Mitsubishi were among the top 15 brands advertising on "The O'Reilly Factor" over the past 30 days as ranked by estimated spend tracked by iSpot.tv.
Highly-rated cash cow "The O'Reilly Factor" was notable for pulling its fare share of A-list brands, despite skewing pretty far from the 18-to-49 demo that many advertisers covet the most. Just over half of "The O'Reilly Factor" audience in 2016 was 55 or older, according to iSpot.
But back to Thursday night's show and its seven brands. If you're not familiar with some of the companies listed above, here's a taste of what they're advertising: Coventry Direct asks, "Do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need or can't afford? Now you can sell your policy for an immediate payment." Rosland Capital is selling "new or old gold coins ... no gimmicks, no nonsense, no hassle" to viewers who don't necessarily trust the U.S. dollar. Life Credit Company's ad begins "If you've been diagnosed with cancer and are struggling financially, you're not alone." The company offers cash advances on your life insurance policy's death benefit.
Simon Dumenco, aka Media Guy, is an Ad Age editor-at-large. You can follow him on Twitter @simondumenco.
