2021 began on a high note for television Ad Volumes. Despite a marginal dip from April 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic, Ad Volumes in May 2021 have witnessed a significant growth of 64% as compared to May 2020 and have remained at par with previous years. 

Moreover, television attracted over 60% new advertisers of the Total Advertisers in May this year, indicating that advertisers continue to bank on the medium. "With lockdown easing up and upcoming big events, we expect TV Advertising to remain strong this year too," shares Aaditya Pathak, Head – Client Partnership & Revenue Function, BARC India on the release of BARC India’s latest THINK report for May 2021.

Advertising on GEC and Movies genre continued to grow as per BARC India’s latest TV Ad Volumes Report. Ad Volumes on both the genres outperformed the same period for the previous 3 years and have registered a growth of 74% & 76% if compared to May 2020. Owing to the increasing consumption of regional content, advertising on South language GECs registered a staggering growth of 103% while the rest of the Regional GECs witnessed 53% growth in May 2021 vs May 2020. South Movies and Regional Movies channels witnessed 85% and 129% growth for the same period.

Out of the total of 2142 advertisers in May 2021, 1347 (63%) were new advertisers. FMCG category continued to dominate Ad Volumes with 72% share, followed by Ecom with 10% share in May 2021. While over 70% of Advertising was dominated by the Top 50 Advertisers in May 2021, the Top 10 advertisers had the highest share since 2018 with 54%. Advertising by the Top 10 advertisers continues to see steady growth.

Growth observed in Ad Volumes in the first quarter of 2021 has evidently seeped into the ongoing second quarter of the year, despite state-wide partial lockdowns being implemented in various parts of the country. Moreover, the growth witnessed in May 2021 reinforces the strength and robustness of television as a medium.