India’s TV-Ad Market Sees 10% Drop in 2025 as FMCG Ad Spending Cuts Bite
A Major Shift in India’s Advertising Landscape
India’s TV-ad market has registered a significant 10% decline in 2025 — its sharpest drop in over a decade. Traditionally driven by FMCG giants, festival campaigns, and high-frequency mass advertising, television has long been the largest advertising medium in the country.
But in 2025, structural changes within the FMCG sector, shifting audience behavior, and digital-first strategies have dramatically reshaped the TV-ad market. With brands cutting budgets and reallocating spends, television advertising is facing a slowdown that signals a deeper industry transition.
FMCG Budget Cuts Hit Television the Hardest
The FMCG sector contributes nearly 40% of India’s TV-ad market, making its decisions pivotal to the medium’s financial health. In 2025, FMCG companies significantly reduced ad spends due to:
- Rising input costs
- Inventory pressure
- Margin corrections
- A shift toward digital-first campaigns
- Higher measurement clarity in online platforms
When FMCG brands pull back, the impact on the TV-ad market is immediate and severe. Major players across packaged foods, beauty, personal care, home cleaning, and dairy have redistributed budgets into retail visibility, influencer marketing, and content commerce.
Digital Surge Adds Additional Pressure on TV
India’s digital advertising sector continues to grow at double-digit rates, overshadowing the TV-ad market. Brands now prefer digital because:
- Performance marketing offers real-time measurability
- Video consumption is shifting to OTT and YouTube
- Creators influence purchase decisions more than TV celebrities
- Hyper-personalization is possible only online
- Smart TVs encourage OTT usage over cable viewing
This shift has caused advertisers to rethink traditional large-scale TV campaigns in favor of sharper, digitally measurable approaches.
Urban Audiences Move Away from Linear TV
One of the biggest factors behind the decline in the TV-ad market is the evolving behavior of urban audiences. Young consumers in metros and Tier-1 cities are spending more time on:
- Instagram Reels
- YouTube Shorts
- Hotstar, JioCinema, Netflix
- Gaming platforms
- Smart TV apps
Families increasingly prefer on-demand content instead of scheduled programming, reducing prime-time TV impressions and making brands reconsider TV-heavy plans.
Regional TV Still Holds Power — But Is Not Immune
While national GECs and Hindi-speaking markets are losing traction, regional TV networks in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Bengal continue to attract strong viewership. However, even these markets are experiencing slight declines as regional OTT platforms and creator-based content rise.
Still, regional channels remain important for affinity-driven FMCG brands — limiting the overall damage to the TV-ad market, but not reversing the downward trend.
Sports Continues to Be TV’s Last Big Strength
Cricket broadcasts remain one of the few solid pillars of the TV-ad market. IPL, World Cup qualifiers, and domestic cricket tournaments continue to generate high GRPs.
However, even sports broadcasting is seeing a split as younger audiences migrate to digital live-streams with interactive features.
While sports keeps TV afloat, it is not enough to compensate for the sustained drop across general entertainment channels.
What This Means for Brands in 2025
The decline of the TV-ad market does not signal the end of television. Instead, it reflects a major industry recalibration toward smarter, mixed-channel strategies.
Brands in 2025 have shifted to:
- Digital-first launches
- Influencer-led storytelling
- Regional OTT integrations
- AI-personalized ads
- Commerce-driven content
TV still plays a role — but no longer as the central advertising pillar it once was.
A Hybrid Future for Indian Advertising
The TV-ad market’s decline is likely to stabilize in the coming years, with brands balancing television, OTT, creators, and retail activations.
Television remains relevant for reach, credibility, and festival-impact campaigns, but its dominance is now shared with digital platforms that offer precision and accountability.
Build Smarter Media Strategies with Digilogy
To thrive in this new landscape, brands need hybrid media planning that blends TV’s mass reach with digital’s measurable impact. At Digilogy, we help brands craft modern media strategies powered by audience intelligence, data, and creative storytelling. Get started with Digilogy today and build campaigns designed for India’s evolving advertising ecosystem.
