BJP leads political advertising in Bihar polls with 54.2% of ad insertions: Report

Television dominated political advertising during the Bihar Assembly Elections in 2025, accounting for 86% of all ad insertions, while print contributed 14%, according to new data from AdEx India, a division of TAM Media Research.

The analysis covers the period from September 1 to November 11, 2025, including a month before polling and the election days from November 6 to 11.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was the largest advertiser across TV and print, with 54.2% of all political ad insertions. It was followed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) at 27.6%, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at 6.1%, and the Congress at 2.5%.

Other political ads accounted for 1.3%, while 11 other advertisers together made up 8.3%.

On television, the BJP contributed 68.4% of all political ads, followed by RJD at 31.5%. Aam Aadmi Party and Jan Suraaj each had 0.1%, while Jantadal United had 0.03%.

In print, the NDA led with 43.6% of insertions, followed by Congress at 18.1%. The BJP accounted for 10.3%, Jan Suraaj for 6.7%, and Jantadal United for 4.6%, with 10 other advertisers forming 16.7%.

The week-on-week data indicate a steep rise in political advertising closer to polling days.

For TV, advertising remained at 0% from week 1 to week 6, before rising to 2.03% in week 7. It then surged to 17.48% in week 8, peaking at 38.97% in week 9 and 37.37% in week 10. Activity declined to 4.15% in Week 11.

Print saw early activity, starting at 8.51% in Week 1 and 6.91% in Week 2, before gradually dipping. Insertions rose again from Week 7 onward, reaching 42.55% in Week 10 and 13.83% in week 11.

The findings are based on political ads tracked across Bihar TV channels and all Bihar print publications during the election period.