CTV moves into mainstream media plans, but measurement remains the missing link

Connected TV has moved quickly from an experimental reach layer to a Rs 3,000-crore advertising market in India. But as budgets follow audiences to the large streaming screen, a sharper question is emerging: can the industry measure CTV with the same confidence with which it sells it?

For advertisers, the promise is compelling — television-like impact, digital-style targeting and access to premium, connected households. The gap lies in fragmented measurement across linear TV, OTT apps, smart-TV interfaces, OEM environments, YouTube, programmatic pipes and walled gardens.

That gap is now defining the next phase of the market. As CTV becomes part of annual video planning, brands are no longer asking only whether it delivers reach. They want to know where the ad appeared, how often the same household was exposed, and whether the exposure moved business outcomes.

Measurement moves to the centre

Swagatika Das, CEO & Co-founder, Nat Habit, said India is increasingly becoming an “AND market” rather than an “OR market”, where consumers engage with both television and digital ecosystems simultaneously.

“While CTV offers a premium viewing environment and highly engaged audiences, advertisers still need stronger visibility into how exposure translates into business outcomes. Frequency management across screens is another challenge,” she said, adding that brands will expect unified measurement, better audience transparency and stronger attribution.

That demand for accountability is especially sharper in categories where video is expected to deliver both brand salience and conversion. Saket Choudhary, National Marketing Manager, Hisense India, said CTV and streaming platforms are seeing rising advertiser interest, particularly among brands looking to reach premium, digitally connected audiences.

“While linear TV continues to play an important role in delivering scale, CTV is increasingly becoming a key component of the media mix due to its ability to combine the impact of television with the precision and measurability of digital targeting,” he said.

However, Choudhary added that measurement and attribution remain key areas of evolution. Advertisers, he said, are looking for standardised frameworks to measure incremental reach, frequency, audience quality and campaign effectiveness. Independent third-party measurement and verification, he noted, will become critical to strengthening confidence across the ecosystem.

For Hisense, CTV is also emerging as an efficient festive-season lever, especially when marketing investments need to be optimised. Choudhary said the medium helps the brand reach consumers who are actively consuming premium content and are more likely to be in-market for consumer durables.

From reach layer to business outcomes

Campaign objectives are now moving beyond awareness. Brands are looking at engagement, consideration, website traffic and measurable outcomes, making CTV a stronger channel for performance-led brand building.

Jubin Rawal, Chief Marketing Officer, Cellecor, said CTV is increasingly being evaluated through that lens. “Beyond reach and visibility, we look at audience insights, engagement metrics, and signals that help us better understand movement through the consumer journey. While branding remains a primary use case, there is increasing focus on understanding how CTV contributes to consideration, purchase intent, and overall marketing effectiveness.”

Rawal added that the industry would benefit from more standardised measurement frameworks that provide greater clarity around reach, engagement and campaign effectiveness.

Anil Suryavamshi, Vice President - Digital, South & West, Carat India, said CTV has moved beyond its earlier positioning as an add-on to television or digital video plans. “For the last few years, CTV was largely positioned as an incremental reach layer. Now, advertisers don’t need to think about CTV as an extension anymore. It is increasingly becoming a core video platform in its own right,” he said.

That evolution is changing the way budgets are allocated. Instead of being treated as a spillover from television or mobile video, CTV is beginning to attract dedicated allocations around premium content and high-attention viewing environments.

Nikhil Kumar, Chief Growth & Marketing Officer, Affle, India and Emerging Markets, said the advertiser conversation has changed from whether to invest in CTV to how much of the video budget should be allocated to maximise reach and performance. According to him, advertisers are using CTV across connected consumer journeys that can influence app installs, registrations, purchases and customer acquisition.

Scale is proven, accountability is not

The scale story has strengthened considerably. India’s CTV user base has risen to 129.2 million from 69.7 million in 2024. CTV has also overtaken laptops and tablets to become India’s second-most used streaming device after smartphones.

Suryavamshi said CTV households grew from 47 million to 57.2 million this year, while consumption grew 23% year-on-year against overall consumption growth of 15%. “The real takeaway is not the reach number. The real takeaway is engagement,” he said.

But the same growth has brought the medium under greater scrutiny. The absence of a unified currency across linear TV and CTV remains one of the biggest gaps, even as advertisers seek stronger attribution, incrementality measurement and cross-screen frequency management.

Lalatendu Das, CEO, South Asia, Publicis Media, captured the industry’s scepticism during a recent e4m CTV discussion. “If somebody is saying I have a unified measurement, they are probably lying. Watch your pockets,” he said.

Kumar said measurement and outcome validation remain key priorities. “Brands want a unified view of how exposure across CTV, mobile and other digital touchpoints contributes to business results,” he said.

For broadcasters, OTT platforms and ad-tech players, the next phase of CTV growth will depend less on proving scale and more on delivering accountable, de-duplicated and outcome-linked advertising.