Advertising is off to a good start on television in 2021, with ad volumes in January and February registering an all-time high of 21 per cent since 2017, despite a decline in the number of advertisers and brands, according to data from TV monitoring agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India.
TV channels in the film and music genre saw a bigger spike in ad volumes at 25 per cent and 24 per cent respectively. The ad volumes of general entertainment channels grew by 21 per cent and those of the news genre by 18 per cent in the first two months of 2021 over the same period in 2020.
“Continuing the momentum built in the second half of 2020, TV ad volumes have had the most promising start with January and February levels of 2021 being the highest ever in five years. A lot of categories and key non-fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands also seem to have increased their presence on TV during this period, which augurs well for the medium,” said Aaditya Pathak, head, client partnership, and revenue function, Barc India.
Brands such as Whitehat Jr, Harpic Power Plus, and Vaseline Intensive Care, were the new entrants in TV advertising during this period, according to Barc with Lizol, Dettol, and Harpic emerging as the most advertised brands.At the same time, the current period saw e-commerce advertising grow by 21 per cent year-on-year with other categories such as retail and building, industry, and land materials also increasing spends this year from 2020. The FMCG category has also seen a 36 per cent growth in ad volumes in 2021 compared to 2020.
The top 10 advertisers drove TV ad volumes with 45 per cent contribution and 35 per cent growth, while the next 40 advertisers garnered 25 per cent growth in the January-February period this year, Barc said.
According to older Barc estimates, overall viewership on television surged 18 per cent during peak lockdown, finishing though 9 per cent higher in 2020 than 2019. With people locked up at home and spreading their TV viewing through the day, non-prime time hours emerged as the new prime-time for the small screen through 2020, Barc had said.