Radio advertising grows 1.2% in Jan-Jul 2026; real estate leads with 17% share: TAM AdEx

Advertising volumes on radio increased 1.2% in January-July 2026 compared with the corresponding period last year, indicating a gradual recovery in demand for the traditional audio medium even as advertiser activity remained concentrated across a handful of sectors and markets.

According to the latest TAM AdEx data, radio advertising volumes in the first seven months of 2026 were 5% higher than the January-July 2024 period. The data tracks more than 122 radio stations in association with RCS India and measures commercial advertising in terms of secondages.

The report shows that the radio advertising market continued to be driven by a relatively concentrated set of sectors. The top 10 sectors accounted for nearly 92% of total radio ad volumes during January-July 2026, underscoring the dependence of the medium on a limited number of advertising categories.

The services sector retained its first position among the leading sectors during the period. Within individual categories, Properties/Real Estate continued to occupy the top position, contributing 17% of total radio advertising volumes. The category retained the same position as in the corresponding period of 2025.

Real estate was also among the fastest-growing categories on radio, with advertising volumes increasing 20% during January-July 2026 compared with the year-earlier period. Life Insurance recorded a sharper 79% increase, while Corporate-NBFC advertising rose 64%. Retail outlets in electronics and durables grew 27%, while retail outlets-jewellers increased 16%. Cars registered 8% growth.

The data indicates that financial services remained an important source of incremental radio advertising. Life Insurance and Corporate-NBFCs recorded substantial increases, while the Anywhere Banking category registered the highest percentage growth among the top 10 growing categories, expanding six-fold during the period.

Digestives advertising increased 82%, edible oil rose 92%, and the range of over-the-counter products category grew 66%. More than 140 categories registered positive growth in radio advertising during January-July 2026, suggesting that the increase was not restricted to a small number of categories.

Maruti Suzuki remains top advertiser

At the advertiser level, Maruti Suzuki India retained the top position on radio during January-July 2026. The report also points to a changing competitive landscape, with three of the top 10 advertisers being new entrants to the ranking.

At the brand level, Vimal Pan Masala emerged as the leading brand on radio, followed by Muthoot Financial Enterprises and Maruti Suzuki Arena. State Bank of India, Gaana.com and Pet Saffa occupied the next positions.

Maruti Suzuki's E Vitara and Grand Vitara also featured among the top 10 brands, while LIC Bima Lakshmi and Dr Ortho Range of Products completed the list.

More than 7,500 brands used radio for advertising during January-July 2026. However, the top 10 brands together accounted for only 11% of total radio ad volumes, pointing to a broad advertiser base despite the dominance of the leading brands. Three of the top 10 brands were new entrants to the ranking.

The appearance of Vimal Pan Masala as the leading radio brand also coincided with Pan Masala entering the top 10 advertising categories during the period, after not featuring in the corresponding list in 2025.

Gujarat, Maharashtra lead regional advertising

Radio advertising remained geographically concentrated, with Gujarat and Maharashtra retaining the first and second positions among states. Gujarat accounted for 17% of total radio ad volumes, while Maharashtra contributed 15%. The top five states together accounted for 61% of total radio advertising volumes.

At the city level, Jaipur emerged as the leading market, followed by Nagpur and Indore. New Delhi, Surat, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Lucknow and Bhopal made up the remainder of the top 10.

The top 10 cities contributed 63% of overall radio advertising volumes during January-July 2026, indicating that despite radio's extensive geographic reach, a substantial share of advertising demand remained concentrated in India's major urban markets.

The report's city rankings also show a relatively diverse regional footprint. While Jaipur led the list, markets such as Nagpur, Indore, Surat and Bhopal featured alongside the larger metropolitan markets of New Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bangalore.

Evening remains preferred advertising window

Advertisers continued to show a clear preference for evening radio slots. Evening was the most preferred time band during January-July 2026, followed by morning and afternoon.

Evening accounted for 38% of radio advertising volumes, while morning contributed 32% and afternoon 28%. Night advertising accounted for the remaining 2%. Together, morning and evening time bands represented 70% of total radio ad volumes.

The concentration in morning and evening slots reflects the continued importance of these periods for radio advertising, when audiences are typically engaged with the medium during daily commuting and other routine activities.

Shorter commercials dominate

Advertisers also continued to favour shorter commercial formats. Ads between 20 and 40 seconds accounted for 66% of radio ad volumes during January-July 2026, compared with 65% in the corresponding period of 2025.

Commercials shorter than 20 seconds accounted for another 28%, taking the combined share of ads below 40 seconds to 94% based on the report's January-July 2026 distribution. The report separately states that 20-40 second and sub-20-second commercials together accounted for 93% of ad volumes, reflecting the dominant position of short-format advertising.

Longer commercials remained a relatively small part of the radio advertising mix. Ads of 45-60 seconds accounted for 4% of volumes, while commercials longer than 60 seconds contributed 2%.

Overall, the January-July 2026 data presents a radio advertising market that is showing modest year-on-year volume growth, while witnessing stronger expansion in selected categories such as insurance, NBFCs, edible oil, digestives and over-the-counter products.

With more than 140 categories registering positive growth and more than 7,500 brands using radio during the period, the medium continues to draw advertisers across a wide range of industries. At the same time, the concentration of volumes across leading sectors, states, cities and prime time bands indicates that advertiser demand remains focused around specific categories, markets and audience windows.