Television advertising volumes declined 7% in January-July 2026 compared with the corresponding period in 2025, according to TAM AdEx data, indicating a continued moderation in advertiser activity on the medium.
The decline comes after a 9% fall in TV ad volumes in January-July 2025 over January-July 2024. The latest numbers point to a relatively modest correction in TV advertising volumes during the first seven months of 2026.
The Food & Beverage sector emerged as the largest contributor to TV ad volumes during January-July 2026, accounting for 23% of the sectoral share. Services followed with a 16% share. The rankings of Personal Care/Personal Hygiene, Building, Industrial & Land Materials/Equipment, BFSI and Education improved in the top 10 compared with the same period last year.
The top 10 sectors together accounted for nearly 90% of TV ad volumes during January-July 2026, highlighting the continued concentration of television advertising among a relatively small set of sectors.
At the category level, Toilet Soaps continued to lead TV advertising volumes during the period. Toilet/Floor Cleaners, Ecom-Media/Entertainment/Social Media, Chocolates and Toothpastes followed among the top categories.
Washing Powders/Liquids, Biscuits, Milk Beverages, Aerated Soft Drinks and Retail Outlets-Jewellers completed the top 10 list. Biscuits was the new entrant to the top 10 during January-July 2026, while five of the top 10 categories retained their respective rankings from the year-ago period.
The data also points to significant growth in select categories. Ecom-Other Services recorded the highest increase in ad secondages, growing 10.2 times during January-July 2026 compared with January-July 2025. Biscuits followed with a 2.1 times increase.
More than 150 categories registered positive growth in TV advertising volumes during the period, indicating that the overall decline in television volumes was not uniform across categories.
FMCG companies continued to dominate the list of leading advertisers. Reckitt topped the advertiser ranking, followed by Hindustan Unilever. The top 10 advertisers together accounted for 43% of TV ad volumes during January-July 2026.
Seven of the top 10 advertisers recorded a positive shift in their rankings compared with January-July 2025, reflecting changes in spending patterns among the largest television advertisers.
Reckitt also dominated the brand rankings. Harpic Power Plus 10x Total Clean was the leading brand on television during January-July 2026. A total of more than 7,200 brands were present on television during the period.
Seven of the top 10 brands belonged to Reckitt Benckiser, while two were from HUL, underlining the strong presence of FMCG players in television advertising.
Among channel genres, General Entertainment Channels remained the largest contributor to TV ad volumes. GEC accounted for 30% of ad volumes during January-July 2026, followed by News at 25%, Movies at 22%, Music at 10% and Kids at 4%.
GEC continued to lead the genre ranking, similar to January-July 2025. The top five channel genres accounted for more than 90% of TV ad volumes in both periods.
The genre mix remained broadly stable year on year, with GEC and News together accounting for 55% of TV ad volumes during January-July 2026, compared with 55% during the corresponding period last year.
The TAM AdEx analysis is based on secondages for television commercial advertisements and excludes promos and social advertisements.
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