Print AdEx rose to Rs 20,866 crore in 2025: PMAR 2026 

Print advertising recorded positive absolute growth in 2025, even as structural pressures on the medium continued, according to PMAR 2026. Total Print ADEX rose 3% to Rs 20,866 crore from Rs 20,272 crore in 2024, adding Rs 594 crore year on year. 

However, Print’s share of total ADEX declined from 19% to 18%, a one percentage point drop that underlines continued share erosion in a market increasingly tilted towards Digital.

Volume growth remained largely flat. Print volumes moved from 333 million column centimetres to 336 million column centimetres, a rise of roughly 1%. The report estimates implied yield growth at around 2%, indicating that revenue expansion was driven more by pricing and premium inventory than by any meaningful increase in space consumption.

PMAR 2026 also notes the shift in how AdEx is defined. Under the legacy definition, Traditional accounts for 54% and Digital for 46% of total AdEx. Under the new definition, Traditional accounts for 40% and Digital for 60%, highlighting the structural rebalancing underway in the media mix.

Q4 powers annual growth

Revenue skewed sharply to the back of the year. Q4 emerged as the primary growth engine, with Print revenue rising 5% to Rs 6,524 crore from Rs 6,184 crore in 2024, contributing 31% of annual revenue. Festive and event-led advertising, along with a government spending boost, supported yield expansion during the quarter.

Q3 saw 3% growth to Rs 5,120 crore, aided by festive build-up, while Q2 rose marginally by 1% to Rs 4,258 crore. Q1 posted a modest 1% increase to Rs 4,965 crore, reflecting a slow start to the year. Overall, the Rs 594 crore annual increase was largely Q4-led, with publishers relying on pricing, positioning and packaged solutions in metros and key state capitals to protect revenue in a cautious demand environment.

Flat space, higher monetisation

Under the surface, Print’s performance in 2025 was defined by stable space but improved monetisation. Advertisers opted for fewer but more valuable insertions such as front pages, jackets, high-impact units and curated packages instead of expanding column centimetres. 

The report frames this as a clear transition from Print being a frequency medium to a high-attention, high-trust environment used for launches, detailed communication, and policy or tariff messaging.

English drives incremental growth

Language splits show consolidation around English and Hindi. Together, they anchor most of Print ADEX, with English dailies driving the bulk of incremental growth. English volumes increased from 94 million column centimetres to 100 million column centimetres, up 6%, lifting its share from 28% to 30%, making it the only clear growth driver among major languages.

Hindi remained flat at 121 million column centimetres, holding a 36% share and continuing as the mass-reach anchor. Tamil posted a 5% increase to 19 million column centimetres, while Kannada saw modest 3% growth to 18 million column centimetres. In contrast, Marathi and Telugu both declined 6%, to 26 million and 15 million column centimetres respectively. 

The “Others” category fell around 5%, reducing its share from 12% to 11%. The data suggests advertisers are increasingly buying English for premium, urban and decision-maker impact, and Hindi for scale, while becoming more selective in other languages despite their readership strength.

Auto leads, FMCG drags

Category data confirms that growth is concentrated in credibility- and information-sensitive sectors. Auto was the single largest growth driver, rising 8% to Rs 3,036 crore from Rs 2,803 crore, adding Rs 233 crore and accounting for 15% of Print ADEX. 

BFSI grew 7% to Rs 1,420 crore, Clothing, Fashion and Jewellery increased 7% to Rs 1,368 crore, and Retail rose 4% to Rs 1,443 crore. Real Estate posted stable 3% growth to Rs 1,613 crore, while E-Commerce climbed 9% to Rs 670 crore, indicating that digital-first brands continue to leverage Print for credibility and depth.

In contrast, FMCG emerged as the largest drag, declining 3% to Rs 2,325 crore from Rs 2,403 crore. Education fell 2% to Rs 1,873 crore, and Telecom also trimmed budgets. The pullback among mass categories reflects the ongoing migration of parts of their media mix towards Digital and Retail Media performance ecosystems.

Selective, yield-driven future

Looking ahead to 2026–27, PMAR 2026 positions Print as a stable but selective, yield-driven medium. It is expected to work hardest for Auto, BFSI, Real Estate and Home Improvement, and premium Education, especially in Hindi and English markets. 

The report suggests that Print will be most effective when tightly orchestrated with Digital and Large Screen media rather than treated as a standalone mass-reach tool, reinforcing its evolution into a premium, credibility-led platform within a Digital-dominant advertising landscape.

To download the full Pitch Madison Advertising Report (PMAR) 2026, click on this link: https://e4mevents.com/pitch-madison-advertising-report-2026/download-report