Significant growth in GEC ad volumes in the first half of 2022: TAM AdEx

Despite a growing shift from television to OTTs for content consumption, the general entertainment channels (GEC) genre saw a 50% index growth in ad volumes during January to June 2022, as compared to the same time last year.

The ‘Half yearly report for advertising in GEC genre’, released by TAM Media Research’s subdivision AdEx India, also revealed that the number of advertisers and brands in the GEC genre increased in the first half of 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021.

The top advertisers on TV remained the same as last year, i.e., Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Reckitt and Brooke Bond Lipton India, which are also some of the biggest conglomerates in India. The top ten list included Coca-Cola India and PepsiCo dominated TV ads - holding 29% share of GEC genre’s ad volumes. Personal care and hygiene followed food and beverages (F&B), holding 20% share.

Prime time was the most preferred time band for advertising, followed by afternoon and morning.

Hindi has consistently been at the top of other GEC sub-genres. It accounted for 24% of the total ads. The top five GEC sub-genres, namely Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Bengali, accounted for 65% share of ad volumes during the first half of 2022.

The report revealed that 185 categories registered a positive growth. Aerated soft drinks saw the highest ad secondages in the GEC genre, followed by tea.