Radio ad volumes grow 2% in 2025, as Q4 volumes up 10% over Q2: Report

Radio advertising volumes in India recorded modest growth in 2025, supported by steady advertiser activity across sectors, categories and geographies, according to a new report by TAM AdEx, a division of TAM Media Research.

The report said radio advertising grew 2% in 2025 compared with 2024. Over a longer period, average ad volumes per station rose 40% in 2025 compared with 2021. Ad volumes had earlier increased 37% in 2024 over 2021.

Quarterly trends showed a steady rise through the year, with average daily ad volumes increasing 10% in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared with the second quarter. Average ad volumes stood at 406 hours per day in January-March, 396 in April-June, 411 in July-September and 436 in October-December.

Services remained the largest advertising sector on radio in 2025, accounting for 30% of total ad volumes. It was followed by BFSI, auto services, retail personal accessories and education. The top 10 sectors together contributed 90% of radio ad volumes during the year.

At the category level, properties and real estate emerged as the leading category, accounting for 15% of total radio ad volumes. Cars and retail outlets-jewellers followed with 9% and 8% shares, respectively.

More than 410 categories were advertised on the radio in 2025, with the top 10 categories contributing 53% of total ad volumes.

Retail outlets-jewellers recorded the highest growth in ad secondages among categories, with an 18% increase in 2025 over 2024, followed by cars at 15%.

Corporate-NBFCS registered the highest growth rate among the top categories, expanding 78.9 times year on year.

Maruti Suzuki India was the top advertiser on the radio in 2025, followed by LIC of India. More than 9.5K advertisers were active on the medium during the year, with the top 10 advertisers accounting for 15% of total ad volumes.

Sapphire Media emerged as the leading exclusive advertiser in 2025 compared with 2024.

Among brands, Maruti Suzuki Arena topped the list in 2025. The top 10 brands together contributed 7% of radio ad volumes.

SBI (State Bank of India) ranked fifth among exclusive brands in 2025 after moving up 22 positions from 2024.

Gujarat led all states with a 17% share of radio ad volumes, followed by Maharashtra at 15%. The top five states together accounted for more than 60% of total ad volumes.

Jaipur was the leading city, followed by New Delhi, with the top 10 cities contributing 63% of total radio advertising.

Evening time bands were the most preferred for advertising, followed by morning slots. Evening and morning together accounted for 69% of ad volumes.

Commercials lasting 20-40 seconds were the most commonly used ad length in both 2024 and 2025, while ads longer than 60 seconds grew 9% in 2025 compared with the previous year.

TAM AdEx said the findings were based on advertising secondages across more than 122 radio stations monitored during the period.