Television has been a staple platform for advertisers and brands since its inception. The co-viewing nature of television and the wide reach attracts brands, which is why TV still remains the top advertising medium. According to the Pitch Madison Advertising Report 2022, TV AdEx witnessed a spectacular growth of 25% in 2021.
Television is the only traditional medium that has comfortably surpassed the degrowth in 2020. Pandemic or no pandemic, advertiser’s faith in TV advertising remains the same, and it enjoys the strong loyalty from both large and medium size brands.
On global terms, TV has 22% share of the total AdEx and is one of the most TV advertising countries.
We don’t think you need any more reasons to advertise on TV. However, the myriad channels available on television can indeed make you feel overwhelmed.
But don’t you worry, we have the list of Top 10 Most Popular TV Genres that got the most traffic on The Media Ant website along with the pageviews it received. So that the next time you want to advertise, you make a data driven decision.
1. News (Pageviews: 886)
News channels have always been popular amongst the Indian audience, especially the male audience. Even during the pandemic, news channels showed the highest viewership growth of 27%.
Over the years news channels have gained even more popularity, and with the resumption of BARC ratings for the news genre of tv ads, advertisers are expected to make better choices.
As per industry experts, the release of individual news channel ratings will help the advertisers wisely use their ad spends. Advertisers who want to target male audience, urban and premium group of people can advertise in news channels to get better reach and ROI.
The top 5 News channels on The Media Ant website;
2. Spiritual (Pageviews: 737)
From the year 2016 spiritual channels have witnessed a five fold increase in viewership as well as advertisers. Major brands like Patanjali, Wipro, Dish India TV and MDH have started advertising in devotional channels.
Spiritual channels have increased their reach drastically, the reason being the emotional connection with one’s religion. These channels have been successful in providing relevant content to the masses, related to their customs and rituals.
Spiritual channels are now enjoying younger viewership too, as many urban yoga and meditation practitioners are turning to devotional channels. Brands who are into health & lifestyle, food & beverages, personal care & hygiene are understanding the trend and latching on to this opportunity.
The top 5 Spiritual channels on The Media Ant website;
3. Music (Pageviews: 725)
The penetration of music channels in India is approx 650 Mn and is steadily growing. Especially during the time of the pandemic, music channels reached their peak as it provided resilience amid the lockdown period.
According to BARC, during 2021 channels in the music genre registered higher growth in terms of TV ad volumes. MTV beats witnessed a massive 134 Mn total viewing minutes and 380 Mn viewers across India, 9XM too received high viewership. (Source: E4M)
The music channels cater to the young audience, in the recent times they are engaging Gen Zs by showing quirky and interesting content, apart from just playing music videos. Even pure-play music channels are introducing celebrity interviews, street interviews, reality shows and fictional youth-centric shows.
The top 5 Music channels on The Media Ant website;
4. Gaming & Sports (Pageviews: 503)
Sports and gaming channels have always been popular amongst the male and urban audience. The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup witnessed a reach of 167 million on television, and it broke viewership records in various regions including India.
And how can we possibly forget the live streaming of IPL matches that has helped several sports channels to own top positions.
The IPL 2021 accumulated 380 million TV viewers and channels witnessed many new brands. (Source: Hotstar)
Sports channels in regional languages are getting high viewership, as industry experts say that audiences are more comfortable and enjoy watching sports commentary in their own language.
Cricket commentary in regional languages has increased IPL 2019 viewership by 28%. Recently, female viewership has also increased in sports channels, especially in IPL.
The top 5 Gaming & Sports channels on The Media Ant website are:
5. Entertainment (Pageviews: 500)
Entertainment channels cater especially to the female audience and brand categories like FMCG, women-centric products, and jewelry brands actively advertise in GEC channels. The ad volumes in entertainment channels increased by 295 in 2021 as compared to 2020.
The top five subgenres in terms of viewership are Hindi with 20% share, Tamil with 16% share followed by Malayalam and Kannada. These five subgenres accounted for 67% share of ad volumes during 2021. (Source: Economic Times)
GEC channels also have an increasing viewership from male audiences, due to the various reality shows, movie premiers and male-centric shows. The growth of non-fiction content like Big Boss and Shark Tank are attracting a large number of male viewers.
The top 5 Entertainment channels on The Media Ant website;
6. Mom and Kids (Pageviews: 490)
According to reports, the viewership of kid’s genre increased by 30-32% during the pandemic (Source: Animation Express). Younger demographics and NCCS A showed above average viewership in the kids’ genre.
The age group that reflected huge growth was between 2-14 years. As per BARC, in 2021 there was a 9% increase in viewership that was mainly driven by rural India. (Source: BARC)
The content on kids channels have also diversified; from comedy to adventure there are numerous shows available for kids. Channels are also creating more and more content on regional languages to reach a wider audience. The major brand categories that benefit from kids channels are FMCG, EdTech, toys, etc.
7. Movies (Pageviews: 464)
Though OTT platforms are on a rise, most of India’s households still prefer movie premieres on television. Not just fresh content but households in India also enjoy old and already watched movies on TV.
Television provides a co-viewing experience and holds a special place in Indian homes. Though Hindi channels are highly popular for movies, channels in the South Indian languages are witnessing robust growth over the years.
8. Business (Pageviews: 400)
Business category in TV has a large number of urban and premium audiences, who are likely to make more purchases. Brand categories like automobiles, tech & gadgets, luxury products, Fintech, Real Estate can benefit largely from business channels.
These channels cater to a niche segment of audience who are loyal viewers of the channels. These channels also maintain a particular format and seriousness of their shows and are popular for being informative.
In the latest BARC ratings, ZEE Business becomes the number one business in India, with market share upto 60%. Business channels like CNBC and NDTV Profit receive high viewership during market hours.
9. Infotainment (Pageviews: 297)
According to BARC, Infotainment channels are showing a twofold increase in reach with fewer number of channels. The TV consumption of Indian audiences are going through a perceptible change and they are preferring Infotainment channels.
As per 2021 BARC data, with just 8 channels the infotainment genre has garnered 39.1 Mn monthly reach. Discovery and Animal Planet are showing massive growth, 20.8 Mn and 17.3 Mn monthly reach respectively.
Over the years, infotainment channels have moved beyond documentaries and have included multiple formats in content and increased experimentation.
10. Comedy (Pageviews: 238)
As per BARC, comedy channels are witnessing steady growth with 39% growth in viewership in 2021. In fact, comedy is one of the most viewed genres amongst Indian audiences.
From an advertisers perspective, advertising in comedy channels is a safer bet due to its consistency of programmes and air-time.
The comedy genre also enjoys a loyal and dedicated audience base, and is enjoyed by audiences of all ages. Therefore, brands and advertisers who are looking to reach a wider audience can benefit from these channels.
In a country of 1.3 billion people and over 850 TV channels, the race to retain the top position and attract viewership requires strenuous effort. Currently, almost 210 million households in India own a television set, this is an increase of 6.9% from the 197 million households that owned a television set in 2018 (data shared by BARC 2021).
Hence, we hope that our list of Top 10 TV genres will help you make an easy and sound decision as to where you should advertise your brand.
In case you have any queries regarding advertising on TV you may Contact Us, or mail us at Help@TheMediaAnt.com.
