Small-town India drives connected-TV growth, reshaping retail media reach
India has an estimated 62–65 million connected-TV households and 207 million viewers, with audience growth accelerating beyond metros. Rural CTV audiences grew 110% versus 21% in metros, giving consumer brands a broader big-screen route into emerging markets.
What happened
WPP Media India · Connected TV growth in India is shifting toward small towns and rural markets, creating a larger advertising opportunity for consumer brands.
Key facts
- India has an estimated 62 million-65 million connected TV households
- CTV has 207 million viewers in India
- CTV audience has tripled since 2022
- Average viewing time is 2.9 hours per day
- 67% of CTV viewers are new or spending more time than a year ago
- CTV audience growth: 21% in metros, 46% in mini metros, 55% in small towns and 110% in rural India
- Urban CTV penetration is around 47%
- 68% of CTV viewers also consume linear TV
- 54% of CTV homes are cord cutters or light linear viewers
- Weekday 8-10 pm big-screen activity: 78% for CTV versus 63% for linear TV
- Weekend big-screen activity: 73% for CTV versus 61% for linear TV
- More than 80% of viewers watch with family or friends
- Average CTV household has 3.3 people
- One CTV impression reaches about 2.5 household members
Why this matters
Prioritize partnerships or acquisitions in regional content, CTV ad-tech, and audience measurement that can unlock targeted advertising inventory beyond India’s major metros.
What to watch
- Growth in connected-TV household penetration and active viewing hours across non-metro states.
- Availability of reliable rural and small-town CTV audience measurement, deduplicated reach, and sales-lift attribution.
- CPM and completion-rate gaps between metro, small-town, and rural CTV inventory.
- Ad load increases, subscription price changes, and free ad-supported streaming expansion on major platforms.
- Regional-language content launches, sports rights distribution, and smart-TV/streaming-device price declines.
- Evidence that CTV-exposed households generate incremental store sales, marketplace conversion, or brand-search lift.
- Build a CTV test plan focused on tier-2, tier-3, and rural catchments, with separate metro control cells.
- Use vernacular and regional creative variants rather than simply extending national TV assets.
- Connect CTV exposure to retailer loyalty, marketplace, QR, geo-lift, app-install, and dealer/store-visit outcomes.
- Prioritize categories with broad physical distribution and repeat purchase, especially FMCG, telecom, consumer durables, financial services, and auto.
- Negotiate outcome-based or audience-guaranteed CTV buys where possible, including incremental-reach reporting versus linear TV and mobile video.
- Map CTV audience clusters to local retail availability before scaling spend; avoid creating demand in low-stock districts.