TV ad decline moderates to 6% in Jan-Sep as Reckitt Benckiser leads advertiser rankings

Television advertising volumes declined 6% in January-September 2026 compared with the corresponding period last year, extending the contraction in the medium even as the pace of decline moderated, according to TAM AdEx’s latest advertising report. 

The report, which tracks advertising across more than 600 television channels, found that TV advertising volumes had fallen 10% in January-September 2025 compared with the same period in 2024. The moderation in the decline to 6% this year indicates an improvement in the trend, although advertising activity on television remains below the previous year’s level.

The findings point to a market in which established consumer goods companies continue to account for a significant share of television advertising, while categories such as e-commerce services, biscuits and chocolates are recording growth. The distribution of advertising across channel genres also shifted marginally in favour of general entertainment channels (GECs).

Reckitt Benckiser (India) emerged as the leading television advertiser in January-September 2026, displacing Hindustan Unilever (HUL), which topped the rankings in the year-ago period. Godrej Consumer Products retained its third position, followed by Cadbury India and Nestlé India.

Coca-Cola India, Procter & Gamble (P&G), Britannia Industries, Google and Wipro Enterprises also featured among the top 10 advertisers. The top 10 advertisers collectively accounted for 42% of television advertising volumes during the nine-month period, underlining the concentration of advertising among large companies.

TAM AdEx tracked more than 5,800 advertisers in January-September 2026, compared with over 6,100 in the corresponding period last year. Seven of the top 10 advertisers were common to both periods, indicating continuity among the leading television advertisers despite the change at the top of the rankings.

Food and beverages leads sectors; services moves up

Food and beverages remained the largest advertising sector on television, accounting for 21% of total ad volumes in January-September 2026. Services ranked second with a 16% share, moving up from third place in the year-ago period.

Personal care and personal hygiene, which had ranked second in January-September 2025, slipped to third place with a 14% share. Household products accounted for 10%, followed by personal healthcare at 7%.

Hair care contributed 5% of advertising volumes, while building, industrial and land materials and equipment, and laundry each accounted for 4%. Banking, finance and investment made up 3%, while personal accessories contributed 2%.

The top 10 sectors together accounted for 87% of television advertising volumes. Only three of the top 10 sectors retained their respective rankings from the previous year, suggesting some movement in the composition of advertising demand even as food and beverages continued to dominate.

The category-level rankings similarly reflected the strength of established household and personal care products. Toilet soaps retained the top position with a 6% share, followed by toilet and floor cleaners, also at 6%. E-commerce media, entertainment and social media ranked third with a 4% share, while chocolates accounted for another 4%.

Toothpastes ranked fifth with a 3% share. Biscuits climbed sharply to sixth place from 20th in January-September 2025, also accounting for 3% of ad volumes. Washing powders and liquids, milk beverages, jewellery retail outlets and e-commerce online shopping completed the top 10.

The top 10 categories collectively accounted for 33% of television advertising volumes. Biscuits and jewellery retail outlets entered the top 10 in the latest period, while e-commerce media, entertainment and social media, chocolates, biscuits and jewellery retail outlets registered positive movement in their rankings.

E-commerce services, biscuits among fastest-growing categories

E-commerce-other services recorded the highest increase in television advertising volumes, growing 10.1 times in January-September 2026 compared with the corresponding period last year, according to TAM AdEx.

Biscuits followed with 74% growth, while chocolates registered a 40% increase. Other hair dressing products recorded 4.4 times growth, and the range of hair care category grew 2.3 times.

Noodles and pasta advertising volumes increased 70%, while fitness equipment and clinics recorded 2.9 times growth. Coffee grew 32%, corporate-financial institutions registered 56% growth, and jewellery retail outlets saw a 12% increase.

More than 160 categories recorded positive growth during the period, according to the report. The expansion in these categories contrasts with the overall decline in television advertising volumes and indicates that advertising activity was uneven across sectors.

The growth figures, however, measure changes in advertising volumes rather than absolute spending or revenue. They therefore indicate increased advertising activity in these categories but do not, by themselves, establish the size of their contribution to the overall television advertising market.

Reckitt dominates brand rankings 

Reckitt Benckiser’s strong showing at the advertiser level was also reflected in the brand rankings. Seven of the top 10 brands on television in January-September 2026 belonged to the company.

Harpic Power Plus 10x Total Clean led the brand list, followed by Dettol Toilet Soaps and Dettol Antiseptic Liquid. Lizol All In 1 and Dettol Icy Cool also featured among the leading brands, alongside Harpic Bathroom Ultra 10x.

The other brands in the top 10 were UltraTech Cement, Flipkart.com, Google Search Engine and Moov Pain Balm. The list included three brands from the toilet and floor cleaners category and two from toilet soaps.

The top 10 brands collectively accounted for 12% of television advertising volumes. TAM AdEx tracked more than 8,900 brands during January-September 2026, compared with over 9,700 in the corresponding period last year.

The rankings underline the continued importance of household cleaning and personal care products in television advertising, with Reckitt’s brands occupying a substantial presence among the most heavily advertised brands.

GECs increase share as news and movies hold steady

General entertainment channels strengthened their position as the largest destination for television advertising, with their share of total ad volumes rising by one percentage point to 31% in January-September 2026.

News channels retained a 25% share, while movies accounted for 22%, unchanged from the year-ago period. Music channels’ share declined by one percentage point to 9%.

Together, GECs and news channels accounted for 56% of television advertising volumes during the nine-month period, making them the two largest channel genres for advertisers.

The figures suggest that television advertising remains concentrated in genres with established mass audiences, even as overall ad volumes decline. The marginal gain for GECs, alongside the unchanged shares for news and movies, indicates that the broad distribution of advertising across the leading genres remained relatively stable.

TAM AdEx’s analysis is based on television commercial advertising measured in secondages, excluding programme promotions and social advertisements. The report covers January-September 2026 and compares the results with the corresponding period in 2025.