Television advertising volumes declined 7% during January-July 2026 compared with the corresponding period last year, according to the latest TAM AdEx report. The analysis is based on TV commercial advertising measured in secondages and excludes promos and social media advertising.
Despite the decline in overall volumes, Food & Beverages continued to be the largest advertising sector on television, contributing 23% of total ad volumes during the period. Services followed with a 16% share, while Personal Care/Personal Hygiene accounted for 15%. Household Products contributed 10%, followed by Personal Healthcare at 6% and Hair Care at 5%.
The top 10 sectors collectively accounted for nearly 90% of television advertising volumes during Jan-Jul 2026.
At the category level, Toilet Soaps emerged as the leading category with a 6.3% share of TV ad volumes, followed by Toilet/Floor Cleaners at 5.9% and Ecom-Media/Entertainment/Social Media at 3.8%.
Chocolates, Tooth Pastes and Washing Powders/Liquids were among the other leading categories. Biscuits entered the top 10, ranking seventh with a 2.4% share. Overall, the top 10 categories contributed 33% of TV ad volumes.
Ecom-Other Services recorded the strongest growth during the period, with advertising volumes increasing 10.2 times compared with Jan-Jul 2025. Biscuits followed with a 2.1-times increase, while Other Hair Dressing and Fitness Equipment/Clinics grew 3.8 times and 2.9 times, respectively. Noodles/Pasta, Life Insurance and Two Wheelers also recorded growth during the period.
FMCG brands dominate advertiser rankings
FMCG companies continued to occupy a majority of the top positions among television advertisers. Reckitt Benckiser (India) emerged as the largest advertiser, followed by Hindustan Unilever and Godrej Consumer Products.
Cadburys India, Coca-Cola India, Nestle India, P&G, Wipro Enterprises and Britannia Industries also featured in the top 10. Google entered the ranking at number 10.
The top 10 advertisers collectively accounted for 43% of television ad volumes during Jan-Jul 2026.
Reckitt Benckiser also led the brand rankings, with Harpic Power Plus 10x Total Clean emerging as the most advertised brand on television during the period.
Dettol Toilet Soaps, Dettol Antiseptic Liquid, Lizol All In 1, Dettol Icy Cool and Harpic Bathroom Ultra 10x followed in the rankings. Moov Pain Balm, Ultratech Cement, Flipkart.Com and Google Search Engine completed the top 10.
The top 10 brands accounted for 11% of total TV ad volumes. Of the more than 7,200 brands advertised on television during the period, seven of the top 10 belonged to Reckitt Benckiser, while two were from HUL.
GEC, News and Movies lead channel genres
General Entertainment Channels (GEC) continued to attract the largest share of television advertising, accounting for 30% of total volumes. News followed with 25%, while Movies contributed 23%.
Music and Kids genres accounted for 9% and 4%, respectively. Together, GEC and News commanded 56% of TV advertising volumes, while the top five channel genres contributed more than 90% of total volumes in both Jan-Jul 2025 and Jan-Jul 2026.
The findings suggest that while television advertising witnessed a correction in the first seven months of 2026, FMCG remained a key contributor to the medium. Reckitt Benckiser's strong presence across both advertiser and brand rankings further highlights the category's continued dependence on television for mass-reach advertising.
