News channel ad volumes fall just 7 per cent in January to July 2026, says TAM AdEx

MUMBAI: Bad news, but less of it. Television news advertising has slowed its slide. Ad volumes in the news genre fell by only 7 per cent in January to July 2026 compared with the same period of 2025, moderating significantly from the 15 per cent decline recorded in January to July 2025 over January to July 2024, according to the latest report from TAM AdEx, the advertising intelligence arm of TAM Media Research. For a genre that has spent two years being told to brace for the worst, a single-digit dip is a welcome change of tune.

The report, published by AdEx India (a division of TAM Media Research), is based on secondages for TV, covers commercial ads only and excludes promos and social ads. TAM AdEx monitors more than 600 TV channels. This section of the report focuses on news advertising trends against the previous half-yearly period of January to June, along with top spenders (categories, advertisers and brands) and channel genres. The report also defines a television advertisement as a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organisation, conveying a message aimed at marketing a product or service.

The numbers on volume tell a tidy story. Indexed ad volumes per channel stood at 100 in January to June 2024 and 85 in January to June 2025, a fall of 15 per cent. They then stood at 100 in January to June 2025 and 93 in January to June 2026, a fall of 7 per cent. The fall has roughly halved, and that is the headline for any broadcaster or advertiser watching the genre.

Sectors: food and beverages takes the top spot

Food and beverages was the leading sector with a 14 per cent share of news genre ad volumes, up from second place in January to July 2025. The top 10 sectors were:

1. Food and beverages, 14 per cent (previous rank 2)
2. Services, 13 per cent (previous rank 1)
3. Education, 10 per cent (previous rank 5)
4. Building, industrial and land materials/equipments, 8 per cent (previous rank 3)
5. Banking/finance/investment, 7 per cent (previous rank 9)
6. Auto, 7 per cent (previous rank 7)
7. Personal care/personal hygiene, 6 per cent (previous rank 8)
8. Personal healthcare, 6 per cent (previous rank 4)
9. Household products, 6 per cent (previous rank 6)
10. Personal accessories, 5 per cent (previous rank 10)

Others accounted for 19 per cent. Together, the top 10 sectors added 81 per cent of ad volumes in January to July 2026, and half of them observed a positive rank shift. Personal accessories was the only sector to retain its 10th position compared with January to July 2025. Banking, finance and investment made the biggest jump, climbing from ninth to fifth, while education moved from fifth to third.

Categories: jewellers lead, spices and two-wheelers climb

Retail outlets (jewellers) led the news genre categories, with a 5 per cent share of ad volumes and the first position, as in the previous period. The top 10 categories were:

1. Retail outlets-jewellers, 5 per cent (previous rank 1)
2. Multiple courses, 4 per cent (previous rank 6)
3. Spices, 3 per cent (previous rank 11)
4. Vocational training institute, 3 per cent (previous rank 9)
5. Ecom-media/ent./social media, 3 per cent (previous rank 10)
6. Cars, 3 per cent (previous rank 3)
7. Toilet/floor cleaners, 3 per cent (previous rank 2)
8. Toilet soaps, 3 per cent (previous rank 4)
9. Cement, 2 per cent (previous rank 5)
10. Two wheelers, 2 per cent (previous rank 15)

The top 10 categories together added 31 per cent of ad volumes in January to July 2026. Multiple courses, spices, vocational training institute, ecom-media/ent./social media and two wheelers witnessed a positive rank shift. Cars, toilet/floor cleaners, toilet soaps and cement slid down compared with January to July 2025. Two wheelers made the longest leap, from 15th to 10th.

Advertisers: two new entrants break into the top 10

Six out of 10 leading advertisers observed a positive rank shift. The top 10 advertisers in January to July 2026, out of more than 3,400 advertisers, were:

1. Reckitt Benckiser (India), previous rank 1
2. Patanjali Ayurved, previous rank 2
3. GCMMF (Amul), previous rank 5
4. SBS Biotech, previous rank 4
5. LIC of India, previous rank 8
6. Godrej Consumer Products, previous rank 7
7. Policybazaar Insurance Brokers, previous rank 9
8. TVS Motor Company, previous rank 29 (new entrant)
9. Mahashiya Di Hatti, previous rank 24 (new entrant)
10. Lalithaa Jewellery Mart (P), previous rank 6

Reckitt Benckiser (India), Patanjali Ayurved and SBS Biotech retained their respective rankings, first, second and fourth, compared with January to July 2025. The top 10 advertisers together added one-fifth of ad volume share. The advertisers on the eighth and ninth positions, TVS Motor Company and Mahashiya Di Hatti, were new entrants in the top 10 list.

Brands: Policybazaar.com on top, ChatGPT in the top 10

Policybazaar.com was the leading brand on the news genre in January to July 2026. The top 10 brands, out of more than 5,190 brands (the report also notes that a total of 5.1K+ brands were present on television), were:

1. Policybazaar.com
2. Lalithaa Jewellery
3. Harpic Power Plus 10x Total Clean
4. Ultratech Cement
5. Dettol Toilet Soaps
6. Aaina Jibonor
7. Pet Saffa
8. Dettol Antiseptic Liquid
9. Muthoot Fin Loan Against Gold
10. ChatGPT

The top 10 brands contributed 8 per cent of television ad volumes, and three of them were from Reckitt Benckiser (India).

Growth: 145-plus categories grow, sanitary napkins soar

More than 145 categories registered positive growth. The top 10 growing categories in January to July 2026, based on the highest increase in actual ad volumes, were:

1. Spices, 30 per cent
2. Multiple courses, 19 per cent
3. Two wheelers, 33 per cent
4. Life insurance, 30 per cent
5. Vocational training institute, 14 per cent
6. Sanitary napkins, 5.5 times
7. Ecom-other services, 2.6 times
8. Solar products range, 3.6 times
9. Edible oil, 35 per cent
10. Ecom-media/ent./social media, 12 per cent

Spices saw the highest increase in ad secondages, with growth of 30 per cent. In terms of growth percentage among the top 10 categories, sanitary napkins witnessed the highest growth, at 5.5 times, during January to July 2026.

Subgenres: Hindi news leads, regional languages hold the rest

Hindi news was the leading subgenre for advertising, with an 18 per cent share of ad volumes. The split was: Bengali news 12 per cent, Hindi regional news 10 per cent, Tamil news 10 per cent, Telugu news 9 per cent, Kannada news 6 per cent, Marathi news 6 per cent, Malayalam news 5 per cent, Assam news 5 per cent, Gujarati news 5 per cent and others (nine subgenres) 14 per cent. The top five channel subgenres accounted for 59 per cent of ad volumes.

The analysis

Three things stand out. First, the pace of decline has eased, and the mix of advertisers suggests the genre is holding its ground with everyday spenders: food, services, education, banking and personal care make up most of the top sectors. Second, the leaderboard is moving. Two new advertisers, TVS Motor Company and Mahashiya Di Hatti, jumped into the top 10 from 29th and 24th, and two wheelers climbed from 15th to 10th among categories, all of which hint at fresh money coming into news. Third, the brand list is a snapshot of modern India’s marketing: an insurance marketplace on top, a gold jeweller and a gold loan lender in the top 10, and ChatGPT sharing a leaderboard with Dettol and Harpic. For news broadcasters, that is a diverse and healthy roster of bidders.

The report is from TAM Media Research, whose portfolio includes AdEx India, Radio Audience Measurement (RAM), RPD for geo-targeting, Digital AdEx, TAM Sports, Eikona Earned Media and Strategy Group for business solutions. More details are on www.tamindia.com.