News genre saw 23% growth in ad volumes in 2021; RB top advertiser: TAM EdEx

Even as a deep divide has emerged in the TV news industry in India over the resumption of audience measurement ratings for the news genre, following the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting’s (MIB) directive to BARC, the News genre reported 23% indexed growth in ad volumes in Y 2021 compared to Y 2017 and 12% growth compared to Y 2020, as per TAM AdEx data.

Highest growth in Ad Volumes was observed in Y 2021 compared to Y 2017. Resurgence in Ad Volumes was seen on News genre during the 3rd and 4th quarters, that is, recovering from the 2nd Covid-wave.

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Reckitt Benckiser was the top advertiser during 10 months – Mar’21 to Dec’21 – on the News Genre. Average Ad Volumes on the News genre reached Pre-second wave level within just 2 months. The highest Ad Volumes on News genre were reached during Mar’21 and Oct’21.

Y 2017 saw the highest share of Ad Volumes, that is, 31% in News genre, followed by Y 2018 and Y 2020 with 30% share each. The News genre witnessed 12% growth during Y 2021 compared to Y 2020, while other genres combined together witnessed 26% ad volume growth, hence ratio is 72:28 in Y 2021 over 70:30 in Y 2020.

During both Y 2020-21, Hindi News topped with more than 32% share of the News genre’s Ad Volumes. Four out of Top 5 sub-genres retained their ranks; Kannada News replaced Assam News in Y 2021. The Top 5 sub-genres accounted for around 65% share of the Ad Volumes during both the periods.

Among the sectors, Food & Beverages topped with 15% share of the News genre’s Ad Volumes, closely followed by Services with 14% share. ‘Personal Accessories’ entered the Top 10 list with a substantial rise.

Three of the Top 10 Categories were new entrants in Y 2021. Cars category led the News genre with 3% share of ad volumes in Y 2021; it had topped the list in Y 2019 and Y 2020 too. Two categories each from Food & Beverages and Building, Industrial & Land Materials/ Equipment sectors were present in the Top 10 list. Paints, Pan Masala and Toilet/ Floor Cleaners were the new entrants among Top 10. Six out of the Top 10 categories observed positive rank shift. The Top 10 categories added 24% share of News genre’s Ad Volumes.

Among the categories, Ecom-Education saw the highest increase in Ad secondages, followed by Pan Masala during Y 2021 compared to Y 2020 in News Genre. In terms of growth % among Top 10 categories, Ecom-Pharma/ Healthcare topped with highest growth of 4.7x, followed by Hair Removers with 2.5x growth. Two categories out of 10 categories belonged to F&B and Building, Industrial & Land Materials/ Equipment sector. Over 230 Categories registered positive growth.

Among the advertisers, FMCG players dominated the Top 10 list. The Top 10 Advertisers contributed 20% share of the News genre’s Ad Volumes. Reckitt Benckiser, HUL and GCMMF (Amul) were the Top 3 advertisers in the News genre during both Y 2020-21. LIC of India, Asian Paints, Vishnu Packaging and Amazon Online India were the new entrants among the Top 10. Vishnu Packaging moved up by 27 positions to achieve 9th rank. The Top 100 advertisers accounted for 56% share of the overall News genre advertising.

Over 5K advertisers advertised exclusively in the News genre during Y 2021. APL Apollo Tubes was the top exclusive advertiser in the News genre, followed by Oasis Distilleries.

In the News genre, Vimal Elaichi Pan Masala was the new entrant in the Top 10 list of Y 2021. The brand led the Top 10 brands’ list, followed by Lalithaa Jewellery and Policybazar. Five brands entered the Top 10 list during Y 2021 over Y 2020. The Top 10 Brands contributed 7% share of the News genre Ad Volumes.

There were 4.1K+ advertisers and 6.4K+ brands that exclusively advertised in the News genre during Y 2021. Leading Exclusive Advertiser & Brand belonged to the Education Sector. Delhi Skill & Entrepreneurship University and Delhi Skill & Entrepreneurship Univer-Gv were the top exclusive advertiser and brand, respectively, during Y 2021 compared to Y 2020.

Regional channels garnered 74% share of the Ad Volumes in the News genre during Y 2021, while National News channels had a 26% share. Regional News channels saw a 13% rise in Ad Volumes during Y 2021 compared to the previous year; the share also rose by 1%.

There were 600+ Exclusive Advertisers on National and 5,600+ on Regional channels of News genre during Y 2021. Maharishi Markandes Educ Trust and Wipro were leading Exclusive advertisers on National and Regional News channels, respectively, during Y 2021.

As far as ad share by time bands in the News genre is concerned, Prime Time was the most preferred time-band on the News genre, followed by Afternoon and Morning time bands. Prime Time, Afternoon & Morning time bands together added more than 70% share of the ad volumes.

In Y 2021, <20 seconds and >60 seconds ads on News genre witnessed 12% and 46% growth, respectively, in Ad Volumes compared to Y 2020. Ad Commercials of 20-40 seconds were most preferred for advertising on News channels during both the years.

Commercial advertising added 71% share of the Ad Volumes, while Promos had 29% share in Y 2021. Whereas, the ratio was 69:31 for Commercial:Promo in Y 2020.