TV ad volumes dip 11% in 2025
According to the TAM report, food and beverages led television advertising with a 21% share, followed by personal care and hygiene at 15%.
Pitch Feature
India's television advertising volumes fell 11 per cent year-on-year in 2025, pointing to cautious advertiser behaviour amid evolving media consumption trends, as highlighted in the latest TAM AdEx report.
Despite the broader decline, the second quarter of 2025 provided a short-lived boost, posting a 6 per cent sequential rise over Q1. The momentum, however, tapered off in the second half of the year, with ad volumes in Q4 dropping 10 per cent compared to Q3, underscoring fluctuating advertiser confidence through the year.
Food and beverages remained the biggest advertising sector on television, accounting for 21 per cent of total ad volumes in 2025. Personal care and personal hygiene followed with a 15 per cent share, while services contributed 14 per cent. Collectively, the top ten sectors made up 87 per cent of total television ad volumes, reflecting a continued concentration of spends among a limited set of categories.
At the category level, toilet soaps maintained their top position with a 6 per cent share of ad volumes, closely trailed by toilet and floor cleaners at the same share.
Washing powders and liquids secured the third spot with a 4 per cent share. A significant movement was observed in retail outlets–jewellers, which climbed to ninth place in 2025 from sixteenth in 2024, signalling heightened branding activity in the jewellery space.
FMCG players continued to dominate advertiser rankings. Hindustan Unilever retained its position as the largest television advertiser with a 14 per cent share of ad volumes, followed by Reckitt Benckiser (India) and the Godrej Group. Coca-Cola India and Nestlé India entered the top ten advertisers in 2025, reflecting growing competition from beverage and packaged food brands on TV.
Brand-level analysis further reinforced Reckitt Benckiser’s strong presence, with seven of its brands featuring among the top ten most advertised brands on television. Dettol Toilet Soaps led the list, followed by Harpic Power Plus 10x Advanced and Dettol Antiseptic Liquid. Lizol Shakti recorded one of the steepest year-on-year climbs, jumping over 17 ranks to reach the seventh position in 2025.
On the growth front, more than 170 categories posted positive expansion in 2025.
Toilet and floor cleaners registered the highest absolute growth in ad volumes, rising 13 per cent year-on-year. Vocational training institutes delivered the strongest percentage growth, expanding 2.5 times compared to 2024, while branded jewellery and e-commerce-driven categories also showed solid gains.
General entertainment channels continued to command the largest share of television advertising, capturing 30 per cent of ad volumes in 2025, followed by news channels at 26 per cent and movies at 22 per cent. The top five channel genres together accounted for over 92 per cent of total ad volumes, reaffirming the enduring pull of mass-reach television formats.
Co-branded advertising with films remained a powerful engagement tactic, with brands logging more than 570 hours of co-branded ads on television in 2025. Comfort Fabric Conditioner topped movie-linked brand associations with a 23 per cent share, while films such as 120 Bahadur and Fateh partnered with the highest number of brands during the year.
