Excellent Publicity has released its annual 2024-2025 media study using insights sourced from TAM AdEx, offering a closer look at how India’s advertising industry moved through the year. Rather than expanding through large spikes, 2025 was marked by gradual, intention-led growth across Print, Radio, Television, and Digital. The industry’s progress came from carefully chosen investments, with brands placing their budgets where attention felt earned, not assumed.
Highlights of the Year 2025
TV ad spends per channel grew 32.5%. Print saw an 8% rise in the advertising industry. Radio maintained a 1% annual increase. Digital recovered after its 2024 dip, recording 3× growth vs. 2022. Print carried more than 1.46 lakh advertisers and 1.78 lakh brands. Digital recorded its highest-ever participation, 2.31 lakh+ active brands. 96.5% of digital ads were delivered through programmatic routes.
Print Media: Reliability and Depth Continue to Shape Advertiser Choices
Print retained its characteristic steadiness, backed by sheer scale and a mix of high-involvement categories.
The Maruti Car Range remained the top advertiser. Rajasthan (15.1%) contributed the largest state share. New Delhi (7.3%) led among cities. Cars grew by 29%, while Retail Outlets-Jewellers increased 16%.
Even with newer channels expanding quickly, print’s credibility and regional presence remained strong influences on brand strategy.
Radio Media: Urban Markets Drive the Medium, With Financial Categories Surging
Radio maintained its upward trend and held its ground through consistent advertiser behaviour.
Properties/Real Estate and Cars stayed at the top. Corporate NBFCs grew 15×, and Banking Services & Products rose 99%. Maharashtra (18.9%) and Delhi (18.3%) together contributed 32.2% of the total RTV advertising.
Radio’s dependability for proximity-driven messaging remained a major factor, especially in larger urban regions.
Television Media: Sports Drives Momentum, Categories Expanded Hugely
By the Year 2025, Television was one of the Most Powerful Forms of Traditional Media.
Star India also had the highest share of all advertisers at 19%. There were some of the highest growing categories, such as smartphones (+89%) and two-wheelers (+83%). The sports genre contributed to 61.5% of all TV advertisements. GEC channels accounted for 19.4%.
Television’s ability to blend scale with content-rich environments kept it central to advertiser planning.
Digital Media: The Platform That Experienced the Most Dramatic Turnaround
Digital advertising rebounded sharply after experiencing a major setback in the year 2024.
Ecom-Online Shopping (11.7%) led categories. Flipkart.com was both the top advertiser and the most active brand. AV Auxiliaries reported 13× growth, while Fashion Retail expanded 8×. Programmatic buying reached 96.5%.
Growth came not just from volume but from the breadth of categories that entered or returned to digital with more ambitious objectives.
Commenting on the findings, Vaishal Dalal, Co-founder & Director of Excellent Publicity, said,“The distinguishing feature of the brands’ actions over the past year was a conscious effort to make smart choices. Brands were selective about where to advertise, rather than attempting to be on every platform. There has been a resurgence of strength in television, a return to digital media, and print appears to be stable, while radio continues to provide local audiences with a strong sense of connection. All of these media used the same approach in which advertisers chose the medium that was appropriate for the type of results they desired.”
