Overall advertising volume on television has dropped considerably in Week 14, shows BARC data. Free Commercial Time (FCT) has dropped by 26% across genres, from 28 mn seconds in pre-Covid period (Week 2-4) to 20 mn seconds in Week 14.
While Hindi GEC and movies saw a significant drop of 31% and 49% each in Week 14 (April 4-10) of 2020, news television and English entertainment and movie channels have held the ad volumes so far.
Going by volume, news channels attract the highest advertising duration which is close to 8 million seconds.
The genres that witnessed a fall in advertising compared to the pre-Covid period are — music (-58%), kids (-43%), infotainment (-19%), youth (-52%) and business news (-11%).
Among GECs, English entertainment channels have seen a growth of 19% over pre-Covid period.
While regional movie channels saw a noticeable drop in advertising volumes, English movie was the least-affected genre.
According to the data, social advertisements have seen growth in the Covid period. There is a 142% increase in FCT for social ads in the Covid period. Essential goods advertising dropped due to supply chain in the past few weeks.
However, it seemed to have bounced back in Week 14. The data also reveals that despite the market conditions, 72% advertisers continued to advertise on television.
Digital advertising dropped across categories. Banking, retail, travel and auto sectors have seen significant drop in digital spends. Corporate image ads have grown from 175% to 213% in the digital space.
