Advertising volumes on radio dropped 27% in the Covid-19 affected year

When the deadly Coronavirus impacting the media and entertainment sector adversely last year, it was seen that radio advertising dropped 27 per cent in 2020 compared to that of 2019, according to the data released by AdEx India, a division of TAM Media Research.

As per the AdEx data, the radio sector saw a slow climb to revival in the second half of the year with a drop in advertising volumes narrowed to 13 per cent and recovered to pre-Lockdown level during the festive period where itwitnessed double digit share.

Services sector emerged at the top of the radio advertising charts accounting for 26 per cent share of ad volumes, followed by Banking/Finance/Investment with 12 per cent share. The top three sectors together added 50 per cent share of ad volumes. Interestingly, Personal Healthcare sector was the new entrant in Top 10 sectors’ list followed by BFSI, F&B and Building, Industrial and Land Materials/Equipments.

BFSI players ruled the list of top 10 advertisers with LIC of India leading the advertising charts followed by Maruti Suzuki. Top 10 advertisers accounted for 17% share of ad volumes during 2020. LIC, SBI and Samsung saw a positive rank shift in 2020 as opposed to the previous year while Mother Dairy Fruit & Veg, Amazon, GCMMF (Amul) and Ultratech Cement were the new entrant in Top 10 advertisers’ list.

LIC emerged as the most advertised brand followed by Rajshri Pan Masala. As per the data, top 10 brands accounted for 9 per cent share of television ad volumes. Four out of the top 10 most advertised brands this year were from the BFSI category, while two brands were from F&B.

As for states, most of the advertising came from Gujarat as the state accounted for 19 per cent of the overall radio advertisement, followed by Maharashtra with 17 per cent share of the advertising volume pie. The top five states accounted for 61 per cent of total ad volumes and South Radio Stations accounted for 26% share on Radio. Out of this, Indore topped among the 18 cities on Radio followed by Jaipur. Top 10 cities accounted for 68 per cent of total ad volumes on Radio.