Connected TV hits 166M monthly viewers in India, up 23%, expanding advertiser reach beyond linear

Kantar reports India's Connected TV audience reached 166 million monthly viewers, up 23% YoY, with 59 million CTV-only viewers unreachable via linear TV. The base skews premium (60% NCCS A) and offers advertisers incremental reach across consumer goods, electronics and automobiles.

— Source publishedThu, 16 Jul, 2026, 16:04 IST·First seen Thu, 16 Jul, 2026, 16:10 IST·Source ET Small Business

What happened

Kantar report finds Connected TV reached 166 million Indian monthly viewers, up 23%, with a third unreachable via linear TV, offering advertisers incremental

Key facts

  • 166 million monthly CTV viewers
  • up 23% YoY
  • 59 million CTV-only viewers
  • 60% NCCS A
  • 53% male/47% female
  • 46% with fixed broadband
  • 87,000 consumer sample

Why this matters

The 59M CTV-only cohort makes CTV measurement, targeting, and inventory-aggregation assets attractive acquisition targets to lock in incremental reach across consumer goods, electronics and auto verticals.

What to watch

  • Follow-on Kantar/BARC quarterly CTV viewership updates confirming growth trajectory
  • Ad-platform announcements of India CTV programmatic inventory or self-serve buying
  • CPM/reach benchmarks published comparing CTV vs linear incremental reach
  • OEM smart-TV shipment data and connected penetration in tier-2/3 cities
  • Regulatory or measurement-standard moves on cross-screen attribution
  • Build unified CTV+linear reach measurement to prove incremental reach claim to CMOs
  • Package premium NCCS A CTV audiences into retail media/D2C bundles for electronics and auto categories
  • Negotiate CTV inventory access across dominant OEM and OTT platforms before pricing hardens
  • Pilot shoppable CTV formats linking impressions to on-platform or app conversions