MAM
Boosting local market manufacturing will help the Indian M&E industry to become a supplier to the world: CII Big Picture Summit 2022
Mumbai: The 11th edition of the Big Picture Summit 2022, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), is a two-day event that is taking place on 16-17 November. The Summit witnessed the participation of various eminent panellists and marked the release of the CII-BCG report on “Shaping the Future of Indian M&E” and the CII-IBDF-KPMG report on “Sports Broadcasting in India.”
CII Big Picture Summit 2022, with a range of sessions, has participation from content creators, broadcasters, buyers, studios, production companies, publishers, distributors, and developers across the gamut of the Media & Entertainment (M&E) landscape.
On 16 November, the first day of the event, discussions centred around global trends and opportunities, the bounce-back of revenues to pre-pandemic levels, domestic consumer preferences, and local opportunities for a global audience through digital platforms that have never existed before, especially for the creative industry, storytellers, and technology providers.
Speaking at the event, the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) secretary Apurva Chandra, stated that MIB, along with the Indian M&E industry, has set a goal of making the M&E sector a $100 billion industry by 2030. Chandra acknowledged the announcement by the ministry on the incentive policy for cinema at the Cannes Film Festival this year, out of which many proposals have been accepted for foreign productions in India.
He further revealed, “The animation, visual graphics, gaming, and comics (AVGC) taskforce, which was launched as a part of the budget 2022, has completed its deliberations and is in the process of finalisation. The government will soon work towards actioning on the recommendations that come out of the report.” As regards the broadcasting sector, Chandra stated that the ministry has recently revised the guidelines for uplinking and downlinking for satellite television channels in India to ease the burden of compliance on channels.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman Dr. P.D. Vaghela highlighted the significance of the Indian M&E sector in the national growth story and economic prosperity. With about half of the population being young, the Indian demographic dividend presents a huge opportunity for Indian M&E services. Television is the largest and fastest-growing segment, representing around 50 per cent of the total media and entertainment revenue.
He added that during the last decade, the M&E sector in the country has undergone several radical changes and is experiencing a paradigm shift due to the advancement of technologies and innovations in the creation, distribution, and consumption of media. He stressed that the traditional media would lose ground unless it understands, adopts, and merges its own business models with society 5.0, AI, machine learning, and other technologies that are being unleashed. Vaghela further mentioned, “The government needs to come out with policies that are flexible in nature and allow new players to easily enter the industry while at the same time not strangling the traditional sector with numerous regulations.”
MIB joint secretary Sanjiv Shankar mentioned the various efforts made by the ministry in the recent past to ensure significant interventions in the regulatory framework, largely based on ease of doing business, Atmanirbhar Bharat, and Make in India. He stressed on the Broadcast Seva portal, which offers a single point facility to various stakeholders and applicants to apply for various permissions, registrations, licences, etc., for the development and integration of the broadcast industry.
CII National Committee on media & entertainment chairman and Disney Star country manager & president K Madhavan, in his opening remarks commended CII for bringing together key stakeholders and policy makers together to discuss the future of India’s M&E industry and its potential in shaping societies. The M&E sector in India is underpenetrated, with a contribution of 0.9 per cent to the GDP compared to 3-4 per cent for many developed countries.
He further advocated the potential for growth for the industry, owing to the presence of 300 million households in India, of which about 100 million households still have no access to television headsets. He further urged for timely support by policymakers in the areas of privacy, ensuring a supportive IPR protection measure, and announcing content-related policies while taking note of changing consumer habits and helping the industry to reinvent itself and adapt to creating travelable content.
CII National Committee on media & entertainment chair & CII sub committee for AVGC & Immersive Media – vice chairman, and Technicolor India country head Biren Ghose in his closing remarks mentioned about the need to evolve in the ways content is being created and urged the stakeholders to look at growth from a different lens, particularly away from a linear vertical growth. Moreover, he mentioned fostering collaboration between government, industry, and academia for the continued growth of the M&E sector.
Furthermore, Trai advisor Anil Bharadwaj said that while Trai is trying to enable a positive, consultative-based, industry-friendly approach with regards to the new tariff order (NTO), the industry needs to focus on building capacities and centres of excellence.
CII has been driving several initiatives to take the Indian M&E sector to new heights and expand its global footprint in close collaboration with MIB. These include representing the Indian film and entertainment industries at the prestigious Cannes Film Market for the past 20 years, at the Berlin Film Festival for the past five years, and at the Toronto Film Festival for the past three years. CII’s strength in policy advocacy is acknowledged and accepted by both the government and media industries.
MAM
India’s financial sector spent less on TV ads in 2025 but flooded the internet
Banks, insurers and lenders cut tv ads as digital jumps, LIC and Muthoot lead tv and Axis Bank tops online
MUMBAI: India’s banking, financial services and insurance sector, one of the most prolific advertisers in the country, delivered a split verdict on media in 2025. It spent less on television, held its nerve in print, turned up the volume on radio and deluged the internet with a ferocity that left every other medium looking pedestrian. The picture that emerges from TAM AdEx’s cross-media report for the BFSI sector is of an industry in transition, still wedded to the news bulletin but increasingly seduced by the algorithm.
Television: a retreat with caveats
TV ad volumes for the BFSI sector fell 16 per cent in 2025 compared with 2024, a sharp reversal after two years of consistent growth that had pushed volumes 16 per cent above 2021 levels by 2023 and a further 7 per cent higher by 2024. Within 2025 itself, the drop was concentrated in the middle of the year: the second and third quarters saw ad volumes slide 35 per cent each against the first quarter, with a partial recovery of 13 per cent in the fourth.
The retreat did not reshuffle the deck. Life insurance retained first place among TV categories with 19 per cent of ad volumes, mortgage loans held second with 16 per cent, and the top ten categories together accounted for 82 per cent of all BFSI television advertising. The dominance of news channels was equally pronounced: news claimed 68 per cent of ad volumes, general entertainment channels a distant 14 per cent and movies 12 per cent. Together, news and GEC captured 82 per cent of the sector’s television spend. News bulletins alone took 48 per cent of programme-genre volumes, with feature films second at 12 per cent. Prime time, between 6pm and 11pm, drew 34 per cent of ad volumes, followed by afternoon at 22 per cent and morning at 20 per cent. A full 82 per cent of all ads ran between 20 and 40 seconds.
Life Insurance Corporation of India was the sector’s biggest TV spender with 11 per cent of ad volumes. Muthoot Financial Enterprises came second with 9 per cent, followed by National Payments Corporation of India at 6 per cent, Tata AIG General Insurance at 5 per cent and State Bank of India at 5 per cent. The top ten advertisers together accounted for 51 per cent of total TV volumes. Three names were new to the top ten in 2025: Tata AIG General Insurance, IIFL Finance and Tata Capital. At brand level, Muthoot Finance Loan Against Gold led with 9 per cent share, Tata AIG Health Insurance entered the top ten for the first time, and the top ten brands together contributed 35 per cent of ad volumes.
Print: the long climb continues
Print told a different story. Ad space for the BFSI sector has grown every year since 2021, rising 16 per cent in 2022, 30 per cent in 2023, 51 per cent in 2024 and 64 per cent in 2025, all measured against a 2021 baseline. Within 2025, ad space was flat in the second quarter but surged 46 per cent in the third and 33 per cent in the fourth compared with the first. Life insurance led print categories with 21 per cent of ad space, followed by mutual funds and banking services and products at 13 per cent each, and corporate financial institutes at 11 per cent. The top ten categories together took 82 per cent of print ad space. LIC led print advertisers with 6 per cent share, and the top ten together covered just 19 per cent of ad space, a reflection of how fragmented print spending remains. Three new entrants joined the top ten in 2025, with Billion Brains Garage Ventures the only exclusive presence not seen in 2024’s list. In the top ten brands, LIC dominated with a 2 per cent share, while Nippon India Mutual Fund rose to third position from fourth in 2024. English accounted for 62 per cent of print ad space, Hindi for 20 per cent. Business and finance publications took 59 per cent of the genre split. The south zone led regional spending with 33 per cent of print ad space, Bangalore topping that zone, while New Delhi and Mumbai were the leading cities nationally.
Radio: louder than ever
Radio ad volumes for the BFSI sector have climbed steadily, rising 12 per cent above 2021 levels in 2023, 36 per cent in 2024 and 45 per cent in 2025. The quarterly pattern within 2025 was volatile: a sharp drop of 43 per cent in the second quarter and 42 per cent in the third, followed by a near-full recovery in the fourth. Life insurance led radio categories with 22 per cent of volumes, banking services and products second at 14 per cent and corporate NBFCs third at 11 per cent. LIC of India held its position as the leading radio advertiser with 20 per cent of ad volumes; the top ten radio advertisers together covered 69 per cent. Muthoot Financial Enterprises led radio brands with 10 per cent share, five of the top ten brands belonged to LIC alone, and SBI Mutual Fund made a remarkable leap to fifth position from 272nd in 2024. Evening and morning time-bands together captured 84 per cent of radio ad volumes, with evenings at 44 per cent and mornings at 40 per cent. Maharashtra was the leading state for radio BFSI advertising with 18 per cent share; Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh together accounted for 43 per cent.
Digital: the five-times surge
If one number defines the 2025 BFSI advertising story, it is five. Digital ad impressions for the sector multiplied fivefold between 2021 and 2025, having already doubled in 2023 and doubled again in 2024 before the 2025 leap. Within the year, impressions dipped 19 per cent in the second quarter and 12 per cent in the third before recovering 8 per cent above the first quarter by the fourth. Banking services and products led digital categories with 27 per cent of impressions, life insurance and credit cards tied at 19 per cent each, and securities and sharebroking organisations fell from first place in 2024 to fourth in 2025. Axis Bank was the runaway leader among digital advertisers with 12 per cent of impressions, followed by ICICI Bank at 9 per cent, IDFC First Bank at 7 per cent and Kotak Mahindra Bank at 6 per cent. The top ten digital advertisers covered 59 per cent of impressions, and seven of them were new entrants compared with 2024, signalling rapid churn in the digital spending hierarchy. At brand level, Axis Bank led with 9 per cent, ICICI HPCL Super Saver Credit Card vaulted to third place from 921st in 2024, and six of the top ten digital brands were new to the list. Programmatic buying accounted for 91 per cent of all digital BFSI transactions; combined with ad networks, it captured 96 per cent.
The data from TAM AdEx paints the portrait of a sector that still believes in the power of the television news bulletin to sell insurance to the masses, but increasingly knows that the next generation of borrowers, investors and cardholders is scrolling, not watching. The race is now on to reach them before the algorithm serves up someone else’s loan offer first.
