India’s CTV audience triples since 2022 to reach 207 million viewers
WPP Media, The Trade Desk and Ormax Media estimate India now has 62–65 million connected-TV homes. Fast growth in rural and small towns, high co-viewing and strong premium-audience engagement give retail brands a larger-screen channel for reach, frequency and consideration-building.
What happened
WPP Media · India’s CTV audience has reached 207 million viewers across 62-65 million homes, reshaping advertising reach and frequency planning. Rapid rural and
Key facts
- CTV households grew threefold since 2022 to 62-65 million homes
- CTV audience reached 207 million viewers
- One CTV impression reaches 2.5 people on average
- Over 80% of viewing is shared; 19% watch alone
- Rural CTV viewership grew 110% year-on-year
- Small-town viewership grew 55%; mini-metros 46%; metros 21%
- 83% seek more information after an ad, rising to 89% among premium viewers
- Premium urban audience totals 21 million
- Gen Z spends 3.1 hours daily on CTV versus 4.3 hours on mobile
- Millennials account for 38% of CTV audience and spend 2.8 hours daily
- 78% are active on CTV from 8-10 pm weekdays versus 63% for linear TV
- 64% watch cricket on CTV; 84% of cricket viewing is co-viewed
- One in five viewers watches FAST for at least 50 minutes daily
Why this matters
Prioritize partnerships with CTV platforms, smart-TV OEMs, streaming publishers and measurement providers to secure audience access, retail-data activation and scalable attribution capabilities.
What to watch
- Growth in connected-TV homes beyond 65 million and whether rural viewing maintains triple-digit growth.
- Availability of reliable household-to-mobile identity matching and retail sales-lift measurement.
- CTV ad inventory expansion on major Indian streaming platforms and resulting CPM trends.
- Regional-language inventory, audience-segment depth and adoption of local-language ad creative.
- Evidence that CTV exposure lifts store traffic, branded search and commerce conversion versus YouTube, linear TV and social video.
- Pilot CTV campaigns in priority states with separate metro, tier-2/3 and rural audience cohorts.
- Build vernacular and regionalized creative variants, including local assortment, festival and nearby-store messaging.
- Measure incremental branded search, app installs, store visits, marketplace conversion and sales lift against matched non-exposed geographies.
- Use CTV for high-consideration categories such as electronics, appliances, furniture, automobiles, beauty and premium grocery; retarget exposed households on mobile and commerce media.
- Set household frequency caps and assess co-viewing-adjusted reach before moving budget from linear TV or digital video.