Advertising volumes on TV continued to scale new peaks, according to Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India, with total ad volumes increased by 39 per cent for the January to April 2021 period as compared to 2020.

This growth is also the highest when compared to the same period in the previous years.

FY 21-22 (April 2021-March 2022) started on a positive note with higher ad volumes compared to the previous four years. Total ad volumes increased by 2x in April 2021 vs. April 2020 and is the highest compared to the same period in the previous years, BARC India said in a statement.

Ad volumes for the Top 3 sectors witnessed an increase in April 2021 as compared to 2019 and 2020. While ad volumes for durables are stable at 2019 levels, ad volumes for FMCG in April 2021 grew by 166 per cent and 42 per cent compared to 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Digital-native brands continue to contribute significantly towards the growth of TV ad volumes, particularly those from the e-commerce category.

As a positive sentiment in the construction sector, ad volumes for the ‘Building Equipment’ category posted a steep 200 per cent growth in April 2021 over April 2020.

Ad volumes for Durables for March and April 2021 combined have increased exponentially (4x) from 2020 and are 3 per cent higher than 2019. 39 new advertisers in the durables sector advertised in April 2021, which were not active in the last two years during the same period. Moreover, there were 58 new brands that began advertising in April 2021.

Ad Volumes for Durables on Ugadi/Gudi Padwal festival were at an all-time high in 2021.

“Television continues to be resilient even during the most difficult times and data from January to April 2021 reinstates this sentiment.  Advertisers continue to rely on television to reach out to the right audience in spite of COVID-19 limitations and lockdowns in various parts of the country. We are also witnessing many new advertisers turning to TV in this quarter adding to the positive sentiment for the medium,” Aaditya Pathak, Head, Client Partnership and Revenue Function, BARC India, said in a statement.

BARC India updated its TV Universe Estimates, with the release of UEs-2020 on April 16, 2021, which showed that TV now reaches 892 million individuals across 210 million households. The size of the universe underscores the fact that television remains the most effective medium to reach mass audiences in India.

Ad volumes data across all of 2020 and the first four months of this year, also shows that TV continues to remain the platform of choice for advertisers, who are consistently using the medium, be it in normal or pandemic times. And BARC India continues to faithfully and credibly report What India Watches, the audience measurement company said.

Commencing operations in 2015, today BARC manages the world’s largest and most diverse TV measurement system covering approximately 1,87,000 individuals in 44,000 households, in 513 districts covering over 600 towns and 1,300 villages across India.