Unexpected boom: News broadcasters enjoy high inventory fill rates post-festival

New Delhi: The continued consumer demand even after Diwali kept news broadcasters’ inventory fill rate on the higher side in the month of November.

Multiple news broadcasters told BestMediaInfo.com that they continued to witness high demand for inventories through November. 

While the top news channels termed their inventory fill rate ‘very high’, there was a marginal dip of up to 10% for others in November post-Diwali giving a huge relief to the genre. 

“The demand for inventories was unexpectedly better compared with the trends from the past few years. The volume of advertising often used to drop by up to 40% post-festive. From those standards, November month was exceptionally well for the top players,” a senior broadcast executive said.

The performance of the automobile sector is a clear indicator of festive adex, especially for news television and newspapers. The auto sector's performance remained satisfactory post-Diwali, riding on ongoing wedding season demand, continued rural traction, and strong SUV offtake.

According to the TAM Adex report for the first half of 2024, news was the leading channel genre of the auto sector during Jan-Jun’24 with a 65% share.

While Hyundai and Honda's sales marginally dipped, most of the leading automakers, including Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, and Toyota, reported growth in their domestic passenger vehicle sales on Sunday.

Even the two-wheeler market witnessed continued growth momentum in November. 

The domestic two-wheeler sales of TVS Motor Company grew by 6 per cent in November 2024. However, total domestic sales (including commercial vehicles) of Bajaj Auto declined 7 per cent.

Gross GST collections grew 8.5 per cent YoY to over Rs 1.82 lakh crore in November on account of increased sales spurred by the festive season.

However, there was a marginal dip of 2.67% from the previous month which saw both Navratri and Diwali falling in the same month.

“The overall economy remains soft despite these encouraging numbers. However, the sentiments are positive and there is an indication that higher rural demand will aid the growth of the adex,” said IPG Mediabrands India CEO Shashi Sinha.

“The growth in November sales or GST collection is over the same period of the last year when Diwali was celebrated in the middle of November on 13th. In effect, we are comparing the festive month with a post-festive month and still talking about growth. The growth momentum is expected to extend with Christmas and New Year in the short-term,” Sinha added.