Cricket, reality shows gain advertisers amid TV ratings blackout

Advertisers in India are favouring established reality shows and cricket while television audience ratings remain suspended, The Economic Times reported on October 18, citing broadcasting executives and marketers. Bigg Boss has attracted 95 sponsors across its language editions, while Kaun Banega Crorepati has secured 25.

The shift follows the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting's decision to stop the Broadcast Audience Research Council from publishing viewership data from June over non-compliance with provisions of the TV Ratings Policy 2026. Without current ratings, advertisers are leaning more heavily on properties with established audience benchmarks.

Familiar shows and India cricket draw brands

Some marketers initially expected reality programming to be particularly vulnerable to the loss of ratings. Instead, established non-fiction franchises have continued to bring in sponsors, according to the report.

Cricket is also benefiting. The India–West Indies series has received a strong response from brands, while the India–New Zealand series is expected to attract substantial interest. The latter is an expectation, rather than a reported advertising outcome. India fixtures offer advertisers a major audience opportunity in a second half of the year described as relatively short of marquee events such as the IPL and ICC tournaments.

A broadcasting executive said brands were using familiar properties to limit risk during the measurement disruption, especially over the festive season. Cricket and prominent non-fiction shows have traditionally attracted premium advertising rates, although the report did not quantify any change in those rates.

BARC compliance remains incomplete

BARC has raised independent representation on its board to 33% and increased its audience-measurement meter count to 77,596, against a stipulated target of 80,000, the report said. Cross-media measurement remains an outstanding requirement.

The absence of ratings is affecting more than advertising sales. One executive said broadcasters were finding it harder to judge the performance of new programmes and show advertisers why those programmes deserved investment.

Mahesh Shetty, head of entertainment sales for television at JioStar, said the established reputation of channels and programmes had become an important source of advertiser confidence amid uncertainty over measurement.

Smaller broadcasters face greater pressure

Another executive said smaller broadcasters were being hit disproportionately by the ratings suspension, which was contributing to lower advertising volumes. Larger networks were offering extra advertising inventory and other benefits to help support advertisers' spending decisions.

A marketer pointed to closer television–digital integration as another way for brands to assess content performance. Even before the suspension, advertisers used factors beyond BARC ratings—including a channel's brand profile and content quality—to allocate budgets and evaluate returns.

Television's advertising difficulties also predate the blackout. Audience attention and advertising expenditure have been moving towards digital, while lower spending by fast-moving consumer goods companies has added pressure. Figures attributed to TAM show television advertising volumes fell 7% in January–July 2026; that measure concerns ad volumes, not advertising revenue.

Festive spending forecast points to a larger market

Despite television's challenges, Datum India's Advertising Forecast 2025–2030 projects festive advertising expenditure of ₹60,000–62,000 crore in 2026, compared with ₹53,000 crore in 2025. The projected increase is 13–17%.

That forecast would put festive spending at roughly one-third of an estimated ₹1,75,782 crore total advertising market. These are market-wide projections, not realised spending or television-only figures, and do not establish how much of the festive increase broadcasters will capture.