Cracks on the screen

A growing ad market, an evolved advertiser, and a metric that works are what TV needs to pull itself out of its downward slide. That appears to be a tall order

- VANITA KOHLI-KHANDEKAR

Godrej Consumer Products is the thirdlargest advertiser on television, behind Hindustan Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser.

Cinthol, Good Knight, Kama Sutra, Park Avenue, and all the other brands under it, together earned it a revenue of ₹14,680 crore in 2024-25 (FY25). That year, its expenditure on advertising grew by two and a half times, to ₹1,020 crore. Over 95 per cent of this was spent on the 'large screen' - that is, television, both linear, and internet-enabled or connected.

"For us, it is not about digital or TV - it is about the large versus small screen, and we are big believers of the large screen," says Harsh Deep Chhabra, global head, media, Godrej Consumer Products.

Godrej Consumer Products is an exception, considering that advertisers have been deserting television en masse. Television, the largest medium in India in terms of reach and revenue for over three decades, has been losing both.

"There has been at least a 20 per cent decline in ad revenues on TV in the first six months (of 2025)," says Mihir Shah, vice president, Media Partners Asia. This follows three straight years of decline in both advertising and pay revenues (see charts). The reasons: A structural shift in how TV is watched and, therefore, how advertisers view it, and a soft ad market that doesn't appear to be recovering.

"Advertising grew only during the IPL (Indian Premier League). All other genres have de-grown," points out Ashish Sehgal, who was until recently the chief growth officer, ad-sales, broadcast and digital, at Zee. "Spending by the top 50 TV advertisers, who account for three-fourths of TV advertising, have bottomed out."