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India TV ad volumes fall 7% in January-July 2026, while e-commerce surges
Our read
India FMCG ad budgets will become more commerce-led, pressuring non-tentpole TV while retail media evolves from a promotional channel into a core brand-growth platform.
For operators
FMCG advertisers should defend TV’s reach but shift incremental spend toward e-commerce and retail-media formats as digital shopping platforms rapidly capture advertising demand.
Watch
Monthly TAM AdEx TV volume and effective-rate trends, especially for FMCG, personal care, food and household categories.
The report,
India’s TV ad volumes declined 7% in January-July 2026, though e-commerce advertising surged nearly 10.2 times. Reckitt India, HUL and Godrej Consumer led advertisers, while food and beverage remained the largest sector by TV ad-volume share.
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Reported figures
From the report. Source details below
| TV ad volumes fell 7% in January-July 2026 versus January-July | 2025 |
|---|---|
| TV ad volumes had fallen 9% in January-July 2025 versus January-July | 2024 |
| Biscuits ad volumes rose | nearly 2.1 times |
Also in the report
- Top 10 advertisers accounted for 43% of ad volumes
- Top 10 categories accounted for 33% of ad volumes
- Food and beverage held 23% of overall ad volumes
- General Entertainment Channels held 30% of ad volumes
- News channels held 25% of ad volumes
- 150 categories increased ad volumes
Why it matters for the brand
Consumer groups and media owners should prioritize partnerships or acquisitions in retail media, commerce analytics and shoppable-video capabilities to capture migrating brand budgets.
What to track next
- E-commerce and quick-commerce ad-auction CPC/CPM inflation, share-of-search changes and sponsored-placement inventory expansion.
- Amazon, Flipkart, Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart disclosure of advertiser tools, audience targeting, closed-loop measurement or premium video inventory.
- Broadcaster results showing ad-revenue weakness, increased discounting, digital bundling or stronger dependence on sports and live events.
- FMCG quarterly commentary on marketing-spend mix, e-commerce sales contribution, premiumization and rural-demand recovery.
- Incremental sales lift from retail media relative to TV reach and brand-lift metrics during major festive and promotional periods.
Likely next moves
Our read of what comes next — analysis, not reported by the source.
- Increase retail-media test budgets for priority FMCG SKUs, with separate measurement for new-to-brand acquisition, conversion and repeat purchase.
- Rebalance TV plans toward tentpole programming, regional channels and high-frequency brand-building bursts rather than always-on national linear buys.
- Negotiate cross-screen deals with broadcasters that include connected-TV, OTT, digital video and outcome-based audience commitments.
- Build incrementality measurement across TV, marketplace ads, quick-commerce media and social video to avoid attributing organic marketplace demand to paid ads.
- Prepare marketplace-specific creative, search terms, product-page content and in-stock depth before shifting more budget into e-commerce media.
The counter-case
The case against this reading — not reported by the source.
A 7% decline in TV ad volumes does not necessarily signal weakening FMCG demand or a structural collapse in television advertising. Brands may be buying fewer but longer spots, shifting toward premium channels or high-impact sponsorships, or reallocating budgets across connected TV, digital video and retail media while maintaining total advertising spend. The reported 10.2x e-commerce increase could be driven by a very small prior-year base, a few major sale events, or aggressive customer-acquisition spending that may not be sustainable.
The source
Published
First seen