Bihar Elections 2020: BJP, NDA dominate political ad space with 93% share on TV

Television was the clear winner during Bihar’s 2020 Assembly Elections, accounting for 93% of all political ad insertions, while print captured just 7%, according to TAM AdEx data.

Television emerged as the dominant medium for election campaigns, reflecting a strong preference among political advertisers for wide reach and frequency over the visual storytelling of print.

Among advertisers, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led the pack with 38.6% of total ad insertions across TV and print. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) followed with 17.4%, while Congress had 17%, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) 11.9%, and Janata Dal United (JDU) 8.6%.

On TV specifically, BJP commanded a 41% share of ad insertions, followed by NDA at 18.6%, Congress at 17.7%, RJD at 10.1%, and JDU at 8.8%. In contrast, print was dominated by Congress and its allies RJD and CPI, which together captured a 15.7% share. The LJP-JDU-VIP-HUM grouping followed at 14.1%, with JDU (8.9%), BJP (8.5%), and Congress (7.1%) trailing behind.

Only two advertisers preferred TV, while 28 opted for print. BJP was the top advertiser on television with a 41% share, while the Congress-RJD-CPI alliance led print with 16%. Regional parties RJD and JDU had 10% and 9% of ad insertions on TV and print respectively.

Political advertising activity peaked in the final phase of the campaign. Almost no political ads appeared on TV during the first six weeks of the election period, with the highest volume recorded in Week 9 (1–7 November). The same week also saw the maximum number of political ads in print.

The analysis covers all political party ads aired or printed in Bihar during the 2020 election period, with TV data based on Bihar channels and print data from all Bihar publications.

Read More:Bihar elections: Political parties to receive 45 minutes of free broadcast on Doordarshan, AIR