TV ad volumes decline 7% in Jan-Jul: TAM AdEx

Television advertising volumes declined 7% on a per-channel basis during January-July 2026 compared with the corresponding period last year, pointing to a continued recalibration in advertiser spending even as FMCG, e-commerce and select consumer categories maintained a strong presence on the medium.

According to the latest TAM AdEx report, which tracks advertising activity across more than 600 television channels, indexed advertising volumes per channel stood at 93 during January-July 2026, against a base of 100 in January-July 2025. The report describes the movement as a phase of strategic recalibration in advertiser spending.

The decline comes after television advertising volumes had already registered a 9% fall in January-July 2025 over the year-earlier period, indicating that the medium has been facing a period of moderation in ad volumes even as advertisers continue to concentrate spending around high-consumption categories and channels.

FMCG remains the backbone of TV advertising

Food and beverages emerged as the largest advertising sector on television during the seven-month period, accounting for 23% of total ad volumes. Services followed with a 16% share, while personal care and personal hygiene contributed 15%.

Household products accounted for 10% of volumes, followed by personal healthcare at 6%, hair care at 5%, building, industrial and land materials/equipment at 4%, laundry at 4%, BFSI at 3% and education at 3%. Collectively, the top 10 sectors contributed nearly 90% of television advertising volumes during January-July 2026.

The concentration underscores the continued importance of FMCG and consumer-facing categories to television, despite the overall contraction in ad volumes.

Toilet soaps lead categories; biscuits enter top 10

At the individual category level, toilet soaps led television advertising during January-July 2026, accounting for 6.3% of ad volumes. Toilet/floor cleaners followed with 5.9%, while e-commerce-media/entertainment/social media contributed 3.8%.

Chocolates and toothpastes accounted for 3.6% and 3.8%, respectively, while washing powders/liquids, biscuits, milk beverages, aerated soft drinks and retail outlets-jewellers also featured among the top 10 categories.

The top 10 categories together accounted for 33% of television ad volumes. Biscuits was the new entrant to the top 10 during the period, while five of the categories retained their respective rankings from January-July 2025.

The category data also points to pockets of significant growth within an otherwise softer television advertising market.

E-commerce-other services recorded the sharpest increase, with ad volumes rising 10.2 times over January-July 2025. Biscuits followed with 2.1 times growth. Other fast-growing categories included other hair dressing, which rose 3.8 times, fitness equipment/clinics at 2.9 times and range of hair care at two times.

Chocolates and coffee each grew 36%, two-wheelers increased 35%, noodles/pasta rose 67% and life insurance grew 46%.

Reckitt takes top advertiser spot

FMCG companies dominated the list of leading television advertisers, with Reckitt Benckiser (India) taking the top position during January-July 2026.

Hindustan Unilever ranked second, followed by Godrej Consumer Products, Cadburys India, Coca-Cola India, Nestle India, P&G, Wipro Enterprises, Britannia Industries and Google.

Reckitt moved up from the second position in January-July 2025 to the top spot, while HUL moved from first to second. Wipro Enterprises climbed to eighth from 11th, while Britannia made a sharp jump to ninth from 58th. Google also entered the top 10, moving from rank 3,203 in the year-ago period.

The top 10 advertisers together accounted for 43% of television advertising volumes during January-July 2026. Seven of the 10 leading advertisers improved their rankings compared with the corresponding period last year.

The strong showing by FMCG companies reflects the category's continued reliance on television for mass reach, particularly for products operating across large consumer markets.

Reckitt dominates brand rankings

The concentration is even more pronounced at the brand level. Harpic Power Plus 10x Total Clean emerged as the leading brand on television during January-July 2026.

Dettol Toilet Soaps ranked second, followed by Dettol Antiseptic Liquid, Lizol All In 1 and Dettol Icy Cool. Harpic Bathroom Ultra 10x, Moov Pain Balm, Ultratech Cement, Flipkart.com and Google Search Engine completed the top 10.

Seven of the 10 leading brands belonged to Reckitt Benckiser, while two were from Hindustan Unilever. The top 10 brands together accounted for 11% of television advertising volumes. More than 7,200 brands advertised on television during the period.

The brand rankings therefore show how a relatively small group of large consumer brands continues to command substantial television inventory despite the overall decline in advertising volumes.

GEC continues to dominate TV advertising

General entertainment channels remained the leading genre for television advertising during January-July 2026, retaining the position it held in the corresponding period last year.

GEC accounted for 30% of television ad volumes, followed by news at 25%, movies at 23%, music at 9% and kids at 4%. Other genres collectively accounted for 9%.

The top five channel genres accounted for more than 90% of television advertising volumes in both January-July 2025 and January-July 2026. GEC continued to lead the genre rankings in both periods.

The numbers indicate that, even amid moderation in overall television advertising, advertisers continue to concentrate their investments around genres that offer broad audiences and mass-market reach.

A market in recalibration

The TAM AdEx data paints a television advertising market caught between an overall contraction in volumes and strong spending pockets across specific categories, advertisers and brands.

The 7% decline in indexed ad volumes per channel suggests that advertisers have become more selective in their television allocations. At the same time, the continued dominance of food and beverages, personal care, household products and other FMCG-led categories indicates that television remains an important platform for mass consumer brands.

The sharp growth recorded by e-commerce-other services and the entry of digital-oriented brands such as Google and Flipkart into the leading advertiser and brand rankings also point to a changing mix of advertisers on television.

With the top 10 sectors accounting for nearly 90% of volumes and the top five channel genres accounting for more than 90%, television advertising continues to remain highly concentrated around established consumer categories and high-reach genres.

For broadcasters, the data highlights the challenge of managing a softer overall advertising environment while competing for a pool of spending that is increasingly concentrated among a relatively small number of large advertisers and categories.