Ad volumes on television continue to post healthy growth, with the July-September quarter registering 461 million seconds of advertising – which is the highest this year – as per BARC India‘s July – Sept 2021 Ad Volumes – Special Festival Edition THINK Report. What is also significant is that the growth registered in the quarter is broad-based, with channels across all languages reporting higher ad volumes over the corresponding period in previous years.

With the festive season well and truly underway, the September THINK Report also takes a closer look at advertising on TV during the Ganesh Chaturthi Week. Ad Volumes on TV in the week grew 4% compared to the previous four-week average and posted a healthy 28% growth over 2019.

Speaking on the trend, Aaditya Pathak, Head of Client Partnership & Revenue, BARC India, said, “The momentum of more and more brands banking on television advertising continues to be visible with 3397 new brands entering the medium in the July-Sept quarter of 2021, and that too with a 51% share of total brands advertising. The number of advertisers on TV is also the highest for the quarter at 4226. As we have seen in earlier years, marketers are clearly leveraging the reach and power of TV to raise the visibility of their brands this festive season. The strong growth of Ad Volumes in Q3 – which is 40 million seconds higher than in Q2 – also points to the positive sentiment regarding the improving economic and business environment.”

Ad Volumes on TV for September 2021 is the highest since 2019, registering a 15% growth over the same period in the previous year. While FMCG continued to maintain its leadership position with a 29% growth in Ad Volumes against the same period in 2019, the E-commerce sector has also shown a healthy 26% jump over 2020.

While the strong upward trend in TV advertising is seen at the overall level as well as across all languages, the highest spurt was observed for Bhojpuri language channels, where ad volumes were more than double that of 2019, and 38% higher than in 2020. While Hindi language channels account for the largest share of TV advertising, Tamil & Telugu language channels witnessed a robust growth over the previous year, 2020.