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As we approach 2025, the Connected TV (CTV) advertising landscape in India is poised for a seismic shift. With multiple industry reports projecting exponential growth and experts weighing in on the transformative potential of this medium, it's becoming increasingly clear that 2025 could be the year CTV advertising reaches critical mass in the country, achieving the much hallowed critical mass.
The Numbers Game
The dentsu e4m Advertising Report 2025 paints a compelling picture of CTV's ascendancy in India. The report projects that the CTV advertising market will hit a staggering Rs 1,500 crore by 2025, growing at a breakneck CAGR of 45% from 2023 to 2025. This isn't just growth; it's a paradigm shift in how brands connect with their audiences.
Adding weight to these projections, the Pitch Madison Advertising Report 2025 estimates that CTV advertising in India is expected to reach between Rs 2,300–2,500 crore by the end of 2025. The report also projects that 50–60 million households in India will have CTVs by the end of 2025. This explosive growth is fueled by a perfect storm of affordable smart TVs, improved internet connectivity, and an ever-expanding buffet of content on streaming platforms.
Abhijeet Rajpurohit, COO and Co-founder of CloudTV, puts this shift into perspective: “Think about how we all watch TV these days. Gone are the times when everyone rushed home to catch their favorite show at 8 PM. We're streaming, binge-watching, and choosing what we want to watch, when we want to watch it.”
This change in viewing habits is driving a corresponding evolution in advertising strategies. Rajpurohit notes, “At first, brands were a bit hesitant about advertising on Connected TV. It makes sense - they were comfortable with traditional TV and digital platforms where they could easily measure their success. It was like sticking to a triedand-tested recipe rather than experimenting with new ingredients. But things are changing fast.”
Connected Brands
The growing affluence of CTV audiences is a key factor driving advertiser interest. Shreya Sachdev, Associate Director and Head of Marketing at PUMA India, highlights the unique engagement opportunities CTV offers, noting, “Unlike most social media platforms which are marked by notoriously low attention spans, the time spent in one sitting by a viewer is significantly higher and hence allows for deeper engagement and better recall opportunities.”
Sachdev also points out the advantages of CTV for live events, saying “Large reach live events with a high concurrent viewership allow brands to reach a sizeable audience pool in one go without having to split their media monies across platforms and over a period of time to reach sufficiency levels.”
This combination of reach, engagement, and targeting is proving irresistible to a wide range of brands. Shantanu Bhattacharyya, EVP of Integrated Digital Solutions at LS Digital, provides concrete examples. “Tata Cliq Luxury has used CTV to reach affluent buyers with tailored messaging highlighting exclusivity and craftsmanship, which is difficult to achieve at scale on linear TV. Similarly, a brand like Cred, which targets financially savvy, high-networth individuals, finds value in CTV due to its ability to reach an engaged, affluent audience.”
The GroupM TYNY 2025 Report further cements CTV's growing importance, predicting that it will account for approximately 5% of total digital ad spend in India in 2025. This isn't just a new advertising channel; it's rapidly becoming a cornerstone of digital strategy for forward-thinking brands.
The appeal of CTV advertising lies in its unique ability to combine the impact of traditional TV with the precision of digital targeting. Rajpurohit explains, "CTV combines the best of both worlds - the impact of that big-screen TV experience with the precise targeting of digital advertising. That's why we're seeing streaming platforms, consumer brands, car companies, and financial services jumping in with both feet."
Russhabh R Thakkar, Founder and CEO of Frodoh, echoes this sentiment, emphasising CTV's accessibility, saying, “CTV has become the big screen. It's much easier to access than traditional TV buying, which is often complex. This simplicity makes it even accessible for brands that haven't been on TV before, helping them reach affluent households which now account for more than 45 million and the number is only growing.”
As we look towards 2025, it's clear that CTV advertising in India is not just growing; it's evolving into a sophisticated, essential part of the media mix for brands across sectors. The confluence of technological advancements, changing consumer behaviors, and innovative advertising capabilities is creating a perfect storm that's set to propel CTV advertising into the mainstream.
Rajpurohit sums it up succinctly, saying, “What started as brands dipping their toes in the water has turned into a full dive. CTV advertising isn't just an experiment anymore - it's becoming an essential part of how brands connect with modern audiences who want to watch their content on their own terms.”
To download the full Pitch Madison Advertising Report 2025, click here:
https://e4mevents.com/pitch-madison-advertising-report-2025/download-report#downloadReport
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