In last 5 years, CTV has been YouTube's fastest growing screen: Ishan John Chatterjee

BY Team PITCH

With 100 million Indian households expected to be CTV homes by 2030, the e4m CTV Conference 2024, held in Mumbai on May 9, saw Ishan John Chatterjee, Director for YouTube India, explore the ‘Great Indian Screen Shift: How CTV is changing the living room’ in a short but impactful speech.

“Imagine, if you will, a typical Indian living room from a decade ago. The television occupied a place of honour. It was the centerpiece for family gatherings. But the viewing experience was still a bit constrained. You were constrained by a fixed set of channels, a fixed schedule, and a consumption experience that was mostly passive,” said Chatterjee.

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Now fast forward ten years to today, in which time, as noted by Chatterjee, that same living room has undergone a digital renaissance. “The humble TV has become a connected TV; a gateway to a universe of content where the viewer is in total control. This is at the heart of the great Indian screen shift. It is a shift that is a cultural, a technological, and a commercial revolution.”

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Chatterjee asserted that this is going to completely change the way audiences connect with each other, consume content and entertainment, and interface with brands. “Now make no mistake, this is not a shift that is happening slowly or gradually. It's happening now, and it's accelerating. And the reason for that is that it's a perfect confluence of two different factors: technological advancements and changing consumer behaviour.”

He added that many affluent audiences have already shifted to connected TV, and we also know that once they shift, there's no turning back. “The prevalence of cheap data, the affordability of smart TVs, the rapidly increasing or improving infrastructure on broadband, and especially 5G, tell us that this trend is here to continue. So that's the first factor. The second thing that is driving this change is changing consumer behaviour itself.”

“The consumption experience for Indians today is no longer constrained by limited options or by rigid schedules. Consumption today is on demand, it's personalized, and it's immersive. Viewers today are screen agnostic. They seamlessly switch between screens throughout the day. So, a viewer might start their day by watching a video on her phone on the way to her office, they may catch up on the news on her desktop or laptop machine at work. And then when they come back home, they may just kick back and watch a movie on their connected TV. But that change, it's not just where they are watching, it's also what they are watching. Viewers today are creating their own video universe.”

A diverse range of users are actively seeking out content that speaks to their unique and yet diverse needs, across genres, across multiple languages. According to Chatterjee, nowhere is this great Indian screen shift more apparent than on YouTube. In fact, in the last 5 years, the connected TV has been YouTube's fastest growing screen in India.

“Globally, viewers watch an average of 1 billion hours of YouTube and connected TV every day. Now what makes YouTube and connected TV so irresistible? Well, the first thing is the sheer breadth and depth of content that is available. It's a veritable kaleidoscope of information, of inspiration, of entertainment, across genres, across multiple languages. And we are finding that viewers today no longer distinguish between content that comes from a traditional studio or from a creator. And as a result of that, we are starting to see content from all kinds of creators succeed on the platform,” said Chatterjee.

People come to YouTube today for everything, whether it's a vlog, a live stream, scripted drama, music, news, reaction videos, it's all available on YouTube. “Content from Bollywood blockbusters, or regional super hits from Tamil cinema, or even some of our traditional TV partners like Sony, captivate audiences. If you think of the live streams that news channels run like Aaj Tak, or podcasts from creators like Nikhil Kamath, they inform viewers. Then kids content like Peppa Pig, or educational content from our partners like Chu Chu TV, they help kids learn. And vlogs and live streams from some of our most popular creators like MythPath or Mortal, connect viewers to personalities and stories from all across the country,” said Chatterjee.

According to him, what makes YouTube and Connected TV so special are three basic things. “Firstly, it allows you to discover and explore content across genres in multiple languages. Secondly, it allows you to immerse yourself and go deep on topics that you really care about. Whether it's a tutorial about a new skill that you're picking up, or you're just looking to catch up on trends with your favorite fashion vlogger. And most interestingly, it's bringing back the joy of shared experiences with families and friends across a big screen, whether that is watching your favourite comedy sketch and laughing together, or big national moments like live streams of Republic Day or the recent Chandrayaan Moon mission.”

And it's not just about where they're watching and what they're watching. “We're also seeing viewers find different ways to engage with content. So, if you take a step back and think of the living room experience from the past, we all associate that with the lean back experience. But we have learned that when people really care about the content that they consume, they actually start to multitask,” said Chatterjee.

He further added, “They flow seamlessly between a lean back experience and a lean forward experience where they're looking to enhance that viewing experience. And what that means on YouTube is reading comments, watching video descriptions, following in-video links while the main video is still playing. And we are always looking for ways to bring the next generation of interactive features to the connected TV, like live chat.”

Chatterjee said that creators are also watching this trend, and they are very focused on creating content to meet this new demand. “In fact, in the last three years, the number of top creators who see the majority of their watch time come from connected TV, that's grown by 400%. We have creators like Visa to Explore who are now creating content that they think will do well exclusively on connected TV. And that means running super long live streams or shooting content in 4K. Other creators are very focused on becoming next generation studios.”

“Creators are the beating heart of YouTube. We succeed when they succeed. So, we are very focused on reimagining every aspect of the YouTube core experience, such as the subscriber journey, to make sure that it lives seamlessly on connected TVs,” he added.

And that brings forth the last and very important stakeholder set, the brands and advertisers that YouTube partners with. “Given the sweeping change that CTVs are causing across living rooms in the country, brands are also adapting. They are changing the ways they reach out to incremental audiences and deliver media effectiveness. Consider LiveSpace, a home renovation brand. They recently used a YouTube connected TV masthead to reach a specific audience using interest group and demographic targeting. And it drove greater traffic to their website and higher sales.”

According to Chatterjee, formats like connected TV and video action campaigns are making it easier for advertisers to reach those people who don't watch traditional TV anymore and instead prefer to stream video content on their large screens.

Another aspect from a brand perspective is that the CTV experience itself offers a premium viewing experience, a more immersive experience, with their larger screens, with superior audio, with the viewer being completely in control. And what that translates to is brands having an opportunity to really engage with viewers who are leaning in with a much higher emotional investment that they're making in the CTV consumption experience.

“And we at Google and at YouTube are trying hard to make sure that we are creating solutions that allow brands to reach this audience seamlessly. For example, people watch YouTube on connected TV for twice as long as they do on mobile and desktop. That is a fantastic opportunity for brands to seize,” asserted Chatterjee.

“This medium is reigniting the joy of shared experiences that families and friends have around the big screen. And it's giving brands an incredible opportunity to connect with these harder-to-reach audiences. And for us at YouTube, we are incredibly excited about the future growth that we are confident we will continue to see on YouTube and the boundless creativity that it will unlock,” he said.  

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