TV + Digital: Why the Smartest Brands Are Moving Beyond the Binary

For years, the industry has witnessed a narrative of rivalry between television and digital media. But the paradigm is shifting rapidly. In today's fragmented media ecosystem, it’s no longer TV vs Digital, it’s TV with Digital. Brands, agencies, and marketers are recognising the strength of a converged media approach, where linear TV's reach and digital’s precision work in tandem to maximise campaign outcomes. The Pitch Madison Advertising Report 2025 reinforces this convergence: while Digital will remain the primary driver of AdEx with a projected 17% growth to reach Rs 53,000 crore, traditional TV is expected to grow at a modest 6%, adding Rs 2,000 crore to hit Rs 36,520 crore. Despite the slowdown, TV continues to command mass reach, especially in India’s vast heartlands. Meanwhile, digital, supercharged by Connected TV (CTV), is seeing explosive growth. India is expected to reach 50–60 million CTV households by the end of 2025, with ad revenues pegged at Rs 2,300–2,500 crore.

Akhil Almeida, Head-Marketing, Bandhan Life said, "TV and digital are no longer at odds. It’s not TV versus Digital anymore—it’s TV with Digital. The smartest campaigns use mass reach to stay top-of-mind and digital to drive action." This was further reinforced by Rohit Ohri, Founder, Ohriginal, who said, “The more progressive marketers are adopting unified planning frameworks, recognising that consumers don’t distinguish between screens. The future belongs to brands that think in terms of audiences, not channels.” Meanwhile, Vikas Sachdeva, Executive Vice President & Head- India International Business at ZEE Entertainment, said that broadcasters are no longer treating TV and Digital as separate silos, they’re building converged ad ecosystems. Sachdeva explained that one key shift is the introduction of unified sales packages, where a prime-time TV spot is bundled with digital inventory across OTT and social media platforms. This approach allows advertisers to gain mass reach through linear TV while driving engagement and interaction through digital, all in a single buy. Additionally, content strategies are evolving, he said. Big TV shows now extend their life beyond the screen with digital spin-offs, behind-the-scenes content, and interactive formats across social platforms and OTT apps. It’s no longer a case of ‘watch and forget,’ but rather ‘watch, share, and interact,’ creating a continuous loop of viewer engagement across screens.

Budget Shift? Are brands truly merging TV and digital budgets into a unified strategy?
The answer, it seems, depends on where you look. "We're definitely seeing a strong push towards merging budgets and creating unified strategies," said Gopa Kumar Menon, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Theblurr. He added that while silos haven’t disappeared entirely, brands with a strong digital-first mindset are leading the integration. "The smart money is moving towards integrated planning where the TV campaign informs the digital strategy, and vice-versa." According to him, the challenge lies in changing those entrenched habits and demonstrating the clear ROI of an integrated approach. With the rise of CTV and more sophisticated measurement tools, it's becoming easier to make that case. Despite the unified outlook, many pointed out that legacy silos still persist. Ohri explained, "legacy silos still persist, often driven by internal structures and distinct performance metrics. The real unlock will come when we measure business outcomes, not just media efficiencies." Rajiv Dubey, VP & Head Media, Dabur India Ltd. put it succinctly, "Budgets are never allocated based on media or device. They are allocated based on the brand KPIs we need to achieve." He added that TV (the linear one) needs lion’s share for the mass reach it provides while digital has different purposes at different platforms. “We allocate budget basis business correlation with campaigns and then optimize TV and everything of digital to get the best of the entire ecosystem.” Meanwhile, Almeida shared that they look at media from a consumer impact lens rather than a strict channel lens because customers don’t consume in silos. They flow seamlessly from the TV screen to their phone screen. This transition is particularly evident in how media budgets are being allocated. While broad-reach campaigns still favour TV, CTV and digital video are gaining significant ground for targeted, high-engagement storytelling. “Advertisers are now adopting a hybrid approach — linear TV for mass reach and CTV or digital for incremental and precision reach,” Yasin Hamidani, Director, Media Care Brand Solutions explained. “Spend allocation is increasingly dynamic, guided by audience behaviour and campaign goals. Tools like overlap analysis and unified GRPs help ensure efficiency and reduce duplication.”

Linear TV v/s CTV
If linear TV is about scale, CTV is about precision. How do marketers balance these two forces? "The linear will become premium and the premium will become mass. Panchayat S4 had each episode sponsored by some or the other brands. Netflix is planning to open advertising. De-premiumization of OTTs is evident. Linear TV will have to find ways to fill that gap. Media has never been this interesting,” said Dubey. According to him, the device is no longer a differentiator. It is the content that differentiates. For instance, news viewers often prefer linear TV for convenience, while sports fans avoid CTV due to even slight lags in live telecasts. But for on-demand content like Netflix, streaming is the go-to. Knowing which audience prefers what helps us target effectively and balance spends across both mediums. India saw a 27% rise in active smart TVs in 2024, with users averaging over 40 hours of content monthly. CTV added 35 million viewers in Q1 2025 alone. While linear TV still reaches 58% of Indians monthly, CTV is emerging as a premium segment, gaining traction beyond metros and bridging the rural-urban divide. Sachdeva noted that CTV has blurred the lines so much, the old ‘TV vs Digital’ debate feels outdated. He said, “Viewers may be watching on a TV set, but their behaviour is digital- on-demand, skip, scroll. CTV lives at that intersection, giving brands the best of both: big-screen impact with digital-style targeting.” He said that CTV brings together the high engagement of TV with the precision of digital. Whether it’s dynamic ads, sequential storytelling or shoppable formats, CTV is helping bridge the gap, not widen it. Menon further breaks it down as a strategic sequence: Linear TV delivers mass awareness, CTV allows for targeted engagement and Digital platforms drive continuity and conversions. He explained that the co-viewing behaviour, where people watch TV while browsing on their phones, is a huge opportunity. At Bandhan Life, a layered approach is standard. "If it’s about scale and reach, TV remains unmatched. For deeper engagement or lead capture, CTV and digital do the heavy lifting," said Almeida. Meanwhile, Ohri pointed out, "One recent campaign saw us use linear TV for top-of-funnel reach, with CTV retargeting high-intent viewers with tailored creatives — and we saw a lift in both recall and conversions."

Changing Patterns
The media landscape is rapidly fragmenting and evolving. “There’s a clear migration of younger audiences from linear TV to digital platforms and CTV. Nielsen and BARC data reveal declining prime-time viewership on traditional TV among urban youth, while YouTube, OTT apps, and smart TV platforms are seeing year-on-year double-digit growth,” said Hamidani. He added that ad spends are also reflecting this shift—GroupM’s India report showed digital video surpassing TV in ad spend share for the first time in 2024. Moreover, brands like Unilever and Mondelez are now using CTV to extend campaign reach among cord-cutters, while still leveraging TV for mass-market impact. Ohri noted that categories like tech, luxury, and BFSI have increased their digital video spends from 20% to 40– 50% in just a few years, reflecting a shift from fragmented planning to fluid orchestration. Menon highlighted that a recent Kantar report showed that 23% of Indians are now 'digital-only' users. This audience skews younger and male, a massive segment traditional TV might miss entirely. At the same time, he noted a key demographic split, "While the 45+ age group still over-indexes on linear TV, the 15-34-year-olds prefer digital, OTT, and social platforms. This calls for age-responsive media planning." TV and digital aren’t just coexisting, they’re complementing each other. As broadcast expert Rajiv Khattar said, "TV viewing is more social; digital is more personal. TV will give much wider reach to the content and will reach each nook and corner of the nation even if the connectivity is there or not. You just need power, a working STB with a TV.” He added, “Digital will help give extra reach, can make the programming and advertisement more interactive, watching content here will not be appointment based, will be more at choice, will give instant feedback on the viewers watching the content, from where and when." And brands are evolving their media plans accordingly. As Menon pointed out, they’re moving beyond simply repurposing TV ads for digital, creating interactive formats tailored for CTV instead. First-party data is increasingly central to campaign optimisation, enabling more precise targeting, retargeting, and sequential storytelling. This integration not only enhances engagement but also delivers deeper consumer insights. "The ecosystem is moving from fragmentation to fluid orchestration," said Ohri. "The future belongs to brands that think in terms of audiences, not channels." The data speaks volumes: digital will continue to lead growth, but TV remains a powerhouse of reach. The challenge is not about replacing one with the other, but about orchestrating them to work in harmony.