Ad volumes BARC report: 2021 sees 22% jump after pandemic-hit 2020

After getting impacted by the onset of COVID-19, television advertising bounced back in 2021, with a 22 per cent jump in the overall volumes at 1,824 million seconds, as per a report.

When compared with the pre-pandemic 2019, the overall advertising volumes grew 18 per cent, the report by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) said.

The last quarter of the year saw volumes jumping to the highest-ever level of 489 million seconds, which was 27 per cent higher than the levels seen in 2019 and 6 per cent more than the 2020 figure, it said.

"Post a rollercoaster ride in 2020 on account of the pandemic and lockdown, 2021 was a strong positive year for the broadcast industry. "We witnessed increased attention from marketers towards television, across languages, while welcoming new brands to the medium throughout the year," its head for client partnership and revenue function, Aaditya Pathak, said.

December witnessed the overall ad volumes at 155 million seconds, which was a growth of 25 per cent over the corresponding month of 2019, the report said.

There were 2,524 advertisers and 4,104 brands in the last month of the year, of which 19 per cent were new entrants.

E-commerce, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), retail and textiles sectors were the fastest-growing segments, and independently registered over 40 per cent growth each when compared to December 2019.

Ad Volumes for Bhojpuri language channels witnessed the highest growth at 120 per cent over December 2019, while Punjabi increased by 83 per cent, it said.