Share of Voice

National children’s hospital advertising experienced a contraction in 2025, with tracked spend declining 12.4% year over year to $50.8 million, compared to $58.1 million in 2024. This analysis includes traditional media, digital video, and digital display investments, and excludes both social media advertising and two national fundraising outliers, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Shriners Hospitals for Children, which together represent more than 85% of total category spend. Their exclusion provides a clearer benchmark of competitive behavior among regional and system-based children’s hospitals.

Investment remains concentrated among a relatively small group of advertisers: the top eight organizations account for 49.7% of spend, while the top twenty represent 73.9%. Texas-based systems represent the two largest advertisers in 2025, reinforcing the concentration of competitive investment within major metros.

Marketing spend peaked in March through June, with January, July, and December experiencing the lowest investments. December 2025 saw a significant decrease in spend compared to December 2024, a decrease of 79.4%.