TV ad volumes on News genre up 23% in 2020: TAM AdEx

The News genre perhaps saw the most turbulent times in 2020. News channels saw a steep increase in viewership during the lockdown period, surpassing that of all other genres, including GECs, movies and sports.

Consequently, in 2020, 23% growth was observed in the News genre compared to 2016 and a 5% growth compared to 2019, as per TAM AdEx report. The highest growth in Ad Volumes was observed in 2018 compared to 2016. Resurgence in Ad Volumes was seen in the News genre during the 3rd and 4th quarters, that is, the Unlockdown period after a drop in the 2nd quarter due to the Lockdown. 49% growth in average Ad Volumes/Day was seen during Unlockdown period compared to the Lockdown period. Average Ad Volumes on News genre reached to Pre-Lockdown level just within 2 months of post Lockdown period. During festive period, that is, October 2020, Ad Volumes on News genre had a double digit share.

Regional and National News channels had a 73% and 27% share of Ad Volumes, respectively, in the News genre during 2020. Regional News channels witnessed a 2% rise in Ad Volumes during 2020, compared to previous the year; their share also rose by 2%.

The year 2016 saw the highest share of Ad Volumes, that is, 32% in the News genre, followed by 2017 and 2020 with 31% share. The News genre witnessed 1% rise in share during 2020 compared to 2019.

During both 2019-20, Hindi News topped with 33% share of News genre’s Ad Volumes. All Top 5 subgenres – Hindi News, Bengali News, Telugu News, Tamil News and Kannada News – retained their ranks in 2020. The Top 5 subgenres accounted for more than 65% share of Ad Volumes during both the periods.

In the year 2020, <20 sec and 40-60 sec ads of News genre witnessed 10% and 3% growth in Ad Volumes compared to 2019.

Count of Advertisers and Brands dropped by 30% in Q2 of 2020, which recovered by 33% and 36%, respectively in Q4’20 over Q2’20. Tally of categories, advertisers and brands started increasing during unlockdown period (Jun-Dec’20) after a dip in Apr-May’20 due to the lockdown. Reckitt Benckiser was the top advertiser during 7 months, viz, January 2020 to April 2020 and August 2020 to October 2020 in the News Genre.

The Services sector topped with 14% share of Ad Volumes, followed by F&B and Personal Care/ Personal Hygiene with 13% share each. Rank of Personal Healthcare sector improved owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cars category led the News genre advertising with 4% share of ad volumes in 2020. It was also first in 2019. Toilet Soaps and Tooth Pastes among the Top 10 categories belonged to the Personal Care/ Personal Hygiene sector. Multiple Courses, Range of OTC Products and Toilet/ Floor Cleaners were the new entrants among the Top 10. Toilet Soaps, Tooth Pastes, Ecom-Media/ Entertainment/ Social Media & Cement categories observed positive rank shift.

The Hand Sanitizers category saw the highest increase in Ad secondages, that is, 139 times during 2020 compared to 2019 in the News Genre, followed by Ecom-Education with 4.4 times growth. Three out of 10 categories belonged to the E-commerce sector.

Hindustan Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser were the top two advertisers in the News genre during both 2019-20. Piccadily Agro Industries was the new entrant among Top 10. GCMMF (Amul) moved up by 7 positions to achieve 3rd rank. Top 100 advertisers accounted for 57% share of overall News genre advertising.

Over 5,000 advertisers advertised exclusively in the News genre during 2020. Rahul Foundation was the top exclusive advertiser in the News genre, followed by Nims University. True Shield Hand Sanitizer entered as a new brand and held the first position in 2020. Six brands entered in the Top 10 list during 2020 over 2019.