MAM
Radio ads show steady but modest growth in 2025: TAM AdEx
MUMBAI: If the airwaves could blush, 2025 would have them glowing, because advertisers clearly couldn’t keep their hands off the radio dial. Fresh data from TAM AdEx shows that radio advertising in India continued to hum along in 2025, posting a modest but steady 2 per cent growth over 2024. It is not exactly a sonic boom, but it is enough to suggest that brands still see value in speaking directly into listeners’ ears, especially when the rest of the media landscape is battling for attention.
The longer arc tells a stronger story. Average ad volumes per station have risen by a striking 40 per cent in 2025 compared with 2021, underlining radio’s quiet resilience even as digital platforms dominate headlines.
Quarterly trends reveal a consistent uptick through the year. Average daily ad volumes climbed from 406 hours in the January–March quarter to 436 hours in October–December, marking a 10 per cent jump between the second and fourth quarters of 2025.
That steady rhythm was largely powered by a familiar set of sectors. Services retained its top spot, accounting for a hefty 30 per cent share of total radio ad volumes. Auto, food and beverages, education, and building materials rounded out the top five, with the top ten sectors together commanding 90 per cent of all radio advertising.
At the category level, real estate dominated the dial. Properties and real estate alone accounted for 15 per cent of total ad volumes, making it the leading category in 2025.
Cars followed with an 8 per cent share, alongside retail jewellers at another 8 per cent. Hospitals and clinics, clothing retailers, electronics outlets, and education courses made up the rest of the top ranks. In all, more than 410 categories advertised on radio during the year, though the top ten accounted for 53 per cent of the total share.
Among fast risers, jewellers sparkled brightest, registering an 18 per cent growth in ad volumes over 2024. Car advertising followed with a 15 per cent rise. Some financial and banking categories, meanwhile, posted dramatic surges, with corporate NBFC advertising jumping nearly 79 times year on year.
When it came to advertisers, the automotive sector had a clear edge. Maruti Suzuki India emerged as the top advertiser of 2025, followed by LIC of India.
The top ten advertisers together accounted for 15 per cent of total radio ad volumes, with names such as Tata Motors, Hyundai Motor India, Honda Cars India, SBI, and Muthoot Financial Enterprises featuring prominently. More than 9,500 advertisers used radio during the year, highlighting the medium’s wide appeal.
At the brand level, Maruti Suzuki Arena topped the charts, with Vimal Pan Masala, Jeena Sikho, Muthoot Financial Enterprises, and SBI among the other leading brands. The top ten brands together contributed 7 per cent of total ad volumes.
The medium also saw fresh entrants. More than 4,800 advertisers appeared on radio in 2025 who were absent the previous year. Among these exclusive advertisers, Sapphire Media led the pack.
Geographically, Gujarat emerged as the leading state with a 17 per cent share of radio ad volumes, followed by Maharashtra at 15 per cent. The top five states together accounted for more than 60 per cent of total ad activity.
At the city level, Jaipur topped the list, ahead of New Delhi, Nagpur, Surat, and Indore. The top ten cities together accounted for 63 per cent of total radio ad volumes.
Advertisers clearly had a favourite time to talk to listeners. The evening band (5pm to 10pm) attracted the largest share of ads, followed by the morning slot. Together, these two time bands accounted for 69 per cent of all radio advertising.
As for ad length, the sweet spot remained the 20 to 40 second slot, which accounted for around 68 per cent of commercials in 2025. Longer ads, those over 60 seconds, also saw a 9 per cent rise compared with the previous year.
In an age of scrolls, swipes, and streaming, radio’s steady gains may seem understated. But the numbers suggest a medium that continues to hold its own, especially in regional markets and high-frequency retail categories.
The growth may be just 2 per cent year on year, but with a 40 per cent jump over the past four years, the old-fashioned radio spot still appears to have plenty of life left in it. After all, while screens may steal the spotlight, the airwaves are still where many brands find their voice.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
