Television ad volumes in India dipped by 3% in 2020: BARC India report

The second half of 2020 saw a 12% increase in advertising volumes after an 18% dip in the first half

Jan 11, 2021 05:02:00 PM | Article | Campaign India Team

According to report by BARC India, ad volumes on TV in the second half of 2020 increased by 12% (compared to 2019). This came after the first half of the year saw a 18% decrease in advertising volumes. Overall, in 2020, ad volumes decreased by 3%.

The FMCG sector saw advertising volumes increase by 9%. Digital products (e-com products and services, auto rental services, gaming, matrimonial etc.) grew by 20$. Auto and durables dipped by 23% and 41% respectively.

HUL remained the top advertiser in 2020. Its ad volumes increased to 294 (million seconds) from 226 in 2019. Reckitt Benckiser, P&G and ITC were second, third and fourth respectively on the list. Colgate Palmolive broke into the top five with an 31 million seconds of advertising in the year compared o 27 in 2019. Godrej Group and the Government of India were sixth and seventh, both of which reduced advertising in the year.

Dettol Toilet Soaps and Dettol Antiseptic were the top two advertising brands in the year. They replaced Santoor Sandal and Turmeric and Trivago respectively. While Santoor figured in the top 10 in 2020, Trivago dropped out of the list.

News channels received the highest ad volumes in 2020, but saw a slight dip in absolute numbers from the year before. GEC was second on the list, but it also saw a dip in ad volumes.

Movie channels were the highest growing genre, moving up from 322 million seconds of advertising in 2019 to 350 in 2020. All other genres saw a dip.

Aaditya Pathak, head - client partnerships and revenue function, BARC India, said, “Television continues to be the screen of the household and the most important medium for all the major advertisers to reach their audience pre-pandemic and post lockdown too. Return of originals along with the festive season and live sporting events boosted the ad volumes, taking the overall growth in ad volumes to 34% as compared to H1, 2020 and eventually minimising the reduction in volumes to a marginal -3% for the overall year, as compared to 2019.”