In conversations we had with those in the know earlier this year, exchange4media was told that 2023 will mark an inflection point in CTV adoption in the country, given the reduced cost of screens and Smart TVs in general coupled with low data charges, and an increasing penetration of OTT services and options. And then the IPL happened, with JioCinema casually offering free streaming matches and the floodgates seemingly opened. Hotstar following suit with the World Cup more recently only consolidated the benefits of streaming, and even though India is a mobile-first market, CTV is increasingly making inroads into it.

CTV penetration is estimated to have grown to over 30 million households by the end of 2023, and is projected to double by 2025. Streaming is increasingly becoming the default viewing preference, accelerated by tentpole sports events like ICC Cricket World Cup, IPL and FIFA World Cup being free to watch on streaming platforms.

And in fact, in the past year, over 90% of all TVs sold in India were Smart TVs, bringing all these cutting-edge features right into Indian living rooms. The future is clearly streaming, connected, and interactive, which means this dynamic environment offers massive untapped riches for advertisers seeking to enter the space.

Siddharth Dabhade, Global Commercial Board Member and Managing Director, MiQ India, points out live-streaming services have revolutionized content accessibility, enabling consumers to access real-time content conveniently.

“With CTV, consumers now have the freedom to skip through lengthy segments of a movie or catch up on highlights from their favourite sports events. Recent reports suggest that Indian households spend over three hours daily watching content on their smart TVs,” he says.

Research by Magnite Asia shows that 59% of streamers currently access content on CTV devices and spend an average of eight hours per week streaming content on a big screen. According to Gavin Buxton, MD, Magnite Asia, AVOD has emerged as another key driver of adoption as streamers have displayed a willingness to watch ads in exchange for free or reduced-cost access to premium television content.

“In addition, broadcasters are increasing investment in digital-first content while also introducing more FAST (Free Ad Supported TV) channels. This evidence supports the idea that the AVOD model is the future of CTV and will be increasingly embraced by more content owners, many of whom have already begun to roll out ad-supported tiers over the past year,” he says.

CTV’s Ad-vantage

Advertisers are taking note of CTV’s ability to drive a high level of engagement and ad recall among viewers. New audiences, unique addressability capabilities, and higher quality advertising experiences are fuelling growth in CTV ad spend. The ability to tailor a message to a specific audience on CTV creates opportunities for advertisers to reach viewers at the most opportune moments.

A Finecast-Group M report on the changing landscape of television in India projects that CTV ad spend will increase at a CAGR of 47% in the country until 2027. In addition, it forecasts that ad spend will reach nearly $86 million this year alone, increasing to about $395 million by 2027. 

“The trend I anticipate involves consumers extensively utilizing mobile data and hotspots to stream content on TV, potentially fueling explosive growth in the CTV sector,” says Rajiv Rajagopal, National Head- Client Development, Finecast, adding, “In my perspective, as CTV transforms how people consume TV content, advertising is poised to undergo significant changes.”

From an advertiser’s perspective, Connected TV scores better than linear TV as it offers access to young, affluent audiences that are hard to reach via linear TV, and it enables data-driven planning, precise targeting, real-time activation and advanced measurement for video ad campaigns.

Acknowledging that it has indeed been a good year to be in the CTV business, Prabhvir Sahmey, Senior Director - Ad Sales - India, Samsung Ads, says, “For us, this has resulted in an increase in our brand coverage and higher acceptance of the CTV platform. Despite this, reach numbers remain very nice. We are now at over 9 million TVs in India, up from 6 million last year. Advertisers, who understand the differentiator of CTV, have less resistance to embracing it as part of their marketing strategy.”

“Many brands have included Connected TV in the media plans and have seen its impact across the marketing funnel. CTV has enabled advertisers to experiment with new strategies for activating their campaigns, adding new capabilities like targeting viewers based on their content consumption habits using ACR data, retargeting CTV viewers across devices, CTV household sync and competitor conquesting,” says Dabhade.

“Hence, CTV ads can help marketers realize better return on ad spends (ROAS) compared to linear TV, therefore lowering the budgetary ceiling for many digital-first brands, SMEs and startups to venture into TV advertising efficiently. From MiQ’s global TV report, we learnt that streaming time surpasses linear viewing by 22%,” he adds.

“In addition, as competition increases throughout the streaming landscape, the need to deliver a seamless ad experience is crucial to success for many platforms. Publishers can benefit from an advanced ad server to help deliver more optimal ad experiences, which is key to retaining users and winning out in a crowded landscape,” notes Buxton.

Future Watch

According to Rajagopal, CTV is likely to revolutionize advertising primarily in three aspects: targeted advertising on large screens, flexibility and creativity with real-time data, enabling tailored ads with dynamic elements based on user geo-location, and cross-channel integration, as CTV becomes an integral part of a more unified marketing strategy, prompting advertisers to adapt their budgets accordingly.

That being said, Sahmey adds that adoption across top advertising verticals still remains very small. “I would estimate it would be close to 20% advertisers advertising on CTV, and a significant chunk of them are active digital advertisers. Verticals like Auto have seen much higher coverage versus FMCGs.”

Still, according to Tejinder Gill, General Manager, The Trade Desk, the industry has only scratched the surface of the CTV opportunity in India. “CTV is now known as the new TV because of how it drives premium content in the same way traditional TV used to. Our study shows that ads on credible CTV channels resonate better with consumers, and they are more likely to perceive advertised brands as trustworthy, compared to ads on user-generated content (UGC) channels, which are often skipped and less trusted.”

“Today, CTV enables marketers to apply data on their massive TV campaigns, offering precision for brands keen on proving ROI for every ad dollar spent. What’s also interesting is that CTV largely relies on consumer email logins to create identifiers. Cookies are non-existent in CTV as well as many fast-growing channels on the open internet,” says Gill.