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India’s connected TV (CTV) landscape is evolving at breakneck speed, moving from an experimental ad medium into a serious contender for mainstream budgets. Once seen as a niche digital extension, CTV today is forcing advertisers, platforms, and broadcasters to rethink the very nature of television in a world where viewers choose what to watch, when to watch, and on which device.
Driving this momentum is the rise of ad-supported and hybrid models, which are steadily expanding the reach of both CTV and OTT platforms. While pure subscription-only models are limited to affluent households, ad-supported ecosystems allow a much broader swathe of audiences to plug in, making premium content accessible without steep entry costs.
In India, almost every major OTT service has adopted some version of this ad-supported or hybrid play. Amazon Prime Video recently introduced ads into its streaming service, requiring users to pay extra for an ad-free experience. JioHotstar runs a hybrid model where properties like IPL, GEC shows, and movies carry ads, while its premium subscription removes them. Sony LIV operates on a freemium basis, with marquee shows and sports behind a paywall but large volumes of free ad-supported content available to widen reach. Zee5 also uses a hybrid model, balancing free AVOD inventory with a subscription tier.
At the fully ad-supported end, Amazon MX Player continues to be one of India’s largest AVOD platforms, offering regional and Hindi content across mobile and CTV with ads. YouTube on CTV has also emerged as a powerhouse, bringing the world’s biggest ad-supported content library into the living room. Meanwhile, OEM-led services such as Samsung TV Plus, Xiaomi PatchWall, and other FAST (Free Ad-supported Streaming TV) channels are reviving a linear-like viewing experience, but entirely supported by ads, seamlessly integrated into smart TV interfaces.
This has created a sweet spot for advertisers: linear TV continues to draw FMCG, auto, telecom, BFSI, consumer durables, and mass e-commerce players at CPMs of ?200–?350, while OTT and CTV are attracting tech, fintech, premium auto, edtech, luxury, lifestyle, travel, and D2C brands, with CPMs ranging from ?150–?250 for mid-tier shows to ?300–?450 for marquee properties such as sports. As a result, CTV is increasingly positioned as the “new linear TV” for advertisers looking for precision targeting without compromising on scale.
Agencies, too, are treating CTV as more than just a digital experiment. “CTV is no longer a test budget, it’s getting a defined line item in media plans,” says Anil Solanki, Director, Dentsu X.
“As hybrid subscription and ad-supported models mature, CTV is steadily becoming the ‘new linear TV’—offering appointment-like viewing habits but with sharper audience targeting. We’re seeing younger, urban, and multi-lingual audiences driving growth, alongside a rise in regional language consumption. Advertisers are aligning spend accordingly, balancing mass-reach campaigns on traditional TV with precision-targeted investments in CTV and OTT to tap into these evolving viewer segments.”
If agencies are reshaping budgets, creatives too must evolve to match this new CTV environment.
For Russhabh R Thakkar, Founder & CEO of FRODOH, this shift is as much about creativity as technology. “CTV is not passive anymore. It is personalised, app-led, and shaped by the viewer. The old 30-second master creative cannot keep up when people choose what to watch, when to watch, and on which platform. We work with brands to break down their message into modular assets such as shorter edits, contextual versions, and language adaptations that move with the viewer, not against them. The goal is simple, make the creative fit the moment, not just the media plan,” he explains.
Thakkar sees formats like pause ads, overlays, and sequential storytelling as still emerging, but believes their purpose is clear — they are built to hold attention rather than interrupt it. “The focus is not on being present everywhere, but showing up right. Think dinner hour for food, thrillers for e-comm, or long weekends for travel. On CTV, precision matters more than repetition and strategy starts with understanding the screen.”
This emphasis on precision is echoed by Nishit Kanchan, Head of Sales at Samsung Ads, who argues that the creative playbook itself has been rewritten. “Connected TV (CTV) can offer immense opportunities to create more interactive and engaging outcomes on television. TV has evolved and today the story doesn’t start with a satellite dish—it starts with streaming. And that changes the entire playbook for advertisers, planners, and brands. Brands are reimagining creative strategies by leveraging smart TV’s immersive viewing experience connecting with audiences the moment they switch on the television.”
According to Kanchan, advertisers are increasingly investing in discovery and contextual relevance. The home screen of a smart TV now serves as a high-value storytelling surface, combining static and video-based creatives, sometimes enriched with interactive elements such as QR codes to trigger purchases.
At the same time, dynamic inventory and geo-targeting are opening doors for sharper contextual storytelling. He points to examples like IPL, where brands adapted creatives around key matches, or OTT players tailoring campaigns to regional audiences. Looking ahead, he believes interactive formats such as shoppable ads or gamified experiences, combined with narrative-driven storytelling, will be critical in making content both memorable and impactful.
Broadcasters are adapting as well. A JioHotstar spokesperson highlights how their dual revenue model balances advertising and subscription: “By continuing to create compelling stories that work seamlessly across screens, we ensure our content meets evolving viewer expectations while driving growth across both our advertising and subscription businesses. We embrace a complementary revenue model where consumers can choose their preferred experience whether it's enjoying content with advertisements or opting for a seamless, ad-free environment through a premium subscription. This flexibility not only broadens our reach across diverse audience segments but also enables us to monetise sustainably at scale.”
The spokesperson adds that with content spanning GEC programming, kids’ shows, IPL, originals, movies, and international titles, the platform offers both advertisers and subscribers reasons to engage daily.
From a brand marketer’s perspective, Ajay Dang, Head of Marketing at UltraTech, sees hybrid models unlocking reach. “Among those with subscription CTV, we had seen a replacement of linear TV, although with a few caveats. However, with the subscription-only model, the reach always was limited to a limited set of households. With the ad-supported and hybrid models a lot more audience will be able to plug into the CTV universe,” he says. But he cautions that affordability remains a factor, with bundled costs still high. He envisions a future where households build their own patchwork of content bundles, especially around language and regional preferences, instead of subscribing to a one-size-fits-all package.
On ad spends, he notes: “Right now the story is that of ‘and’ rather than substitution and CTV does not have the potential of replacing the linear TV markets. However, for niche and metro-based affluent audience you have now an option of going to CTV/OTT rather than a more broad linear TV plan.”
Kailash Adhikari, MD of Sri Adhikari Brothers, is more bullish. “I really feel that it is the new linear TV and, in the future, not more, but two, three years down the line, it will catapult the entire linear TV market. Because see, especially in linear TV for the free-to-air channels, we cannot just survive on advertising. We need a subscription. No media business can just survive on advertising. People who are consuming that media need to have the habit of paying for it.”
With 90% of new TV sets now smart TVs, coupled with affordable broadband, Adhikari sees CTV as the inevitable future. He notes that while today it is largely urban, the habit of watching live content and even “fast channels” will soon migrate to CTV. “In three years down the line, entire linear TV will shift to connected TV and so will the advertisers. Even rating agencies need to equip themselves for measurement on CTV because that will be the currency of the future.”
Yet, not everyone believes the transition will be so seamless. Akshat Singhal of Dangal is more measured in his assessment. “Currently CTV is not set up as linear TV in most of the OEMs. The UI/UX of changing the channel is not the same. Only Samsung TV somewhat delivers a similar experience. It is way far from evolving to linear TV in accordance with reach and MAU.
Huge reach gap. Although it will never be like satellite TV, it is growing in double digits. It is great for niche TV channels, as setting up cost is very low.”
He adds that CTV’s audience is still concentrated in top-tier cities, limited to smart TVs manufactured after 2019, and that time spent is lower compared to traditional TV. “Unlike satellite TV, people do not wait on ads currently and switch on other platforms, especially on mobile CTV. Users on mobile are very habitual to shift to another app while ads are being served.”
Singhal points out that while OTT is expanding rapidly, particularly with Jio and YouTube, its audience skews younger, while CTV attracts affluent, urban households. “Good thing about the digital ecosystem is that advertisers can target whatever audience profile they want. Everyone will see different ads even if they are watching the same content. Advertisers who want to target niche target markets or very specific target markets, are going to the digital ecosystem. Advertisers who want to still target the mass Hindi-speaking market or any language specific, TV is the best bet for them.”
The future of CTV in India sits somewhere between optimism and reality. For some, it already mirrors linear TV in reach and impact; for others, its limited penetration and fragmented viewing experience mean it remains a complement, not a replacement. What is certain is that CTV is no longer a test bed — it has become the arena where creative storytelling, precise targeting, and hybrid monetisation will decide the next phase of television.
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