India’s CTV audience hits 207 million as rural viewing doubles, reshaping TV advertising

India’s connected television (CTV) ecosystem has reached a scale that is forcing advertisers to rethink how they plan the country’s biggest screen, with the medium now reaching an estimated 207 million viewers across 62-65 million households, according to a new report by WPP Media and The Trade Desk, executed by Ormax Media.

The report, The Connected TV Era: India’s New Prime Time, finds that CTV has grown threefold since 2022, while rural CTV audiences have doubled in the past year. The growth is increasingly coming from smaller towns and rural markets rather than metros, suggesting that the next phase of connected television in India could be driven by mass-market adoption rather than its earlier positioning as a premium, urban medium.

For advertisers, the shift is significant because CTV is emerging not as a replacement for linear television but as an additional layer that combines television’s large-screen impact and shared viewing with digital advertising’s targeting, addressability and measurement capabilities.

The research is based on a dedicated survey of 3,000 CTV viewers in urban India conducted in May-June 2026, alongside the Ormax OTT Audience Report 2026, which has a sample of more than 12,000 respondents across urban and rural India. WPP Media also modelled household sizing. The report cautions that the findings are survey-based and do not represent a census of the entire Indian population.

Rural India emerges as the next CTV growth engine

The most significant change in the CTV landscape is geographical.

While metros continue to account for a substantial audience, the report shows that CTV growth is accelerating sharply outside the largest cities. CTV audiences grew 21% in metros over the past year, compared with 46% in mini-metros, 55% in small towns and 110% in rural markets.

The report identifies Uttar Pradesh-Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Punjab-Haryana-Chandigarh-Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh-Telangana as among the largest CTV markets. At the same time, Bihar-Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Kerala and parts of the northeast recorded above-average growth during the year.

This expansion challenges the perception that connected television remains predominantly a metro or affluent-consumer proposition.

In fact, 56% of the CTV universe now belongs to NCCS B or below, while 44% belongs to NCCS A. More than half of NCCS A households are now CTV homes, according to the study.

The implication for advertisers is that CTV is increasingly capable of delivering both premium audiences and national reach. The report argues that the next 100 million CTV viewers are unlikely to come primarily from metros.

Smart TV becomes the gateway to streaming

The television set itself is emerging as the primary interface for streaming.

As many as 82% of CTV users access streaming content through applications built into their smart TVs, while only 18% use external devices or set-top boxes. This makes the smart-TV operating system and original equipment manufacturers such as Samsung, LG, Xiaomi, Sony and TCL increasingly important layers in the advertising ecosystem.

The finding also has implications for advertisers looking beyond individual streaming platforms. Instead of viewing CTV exclusively through the lens of OTT applications, marketers may increasingly need to consider the device and operating-system layer through which audiences access content.

The report describes the smart-TV operating system as a potentially “ownable ad surface”, given the dominance of built-in applications.

Cord-cutting is changing the economics of TV reach

One of the more consequential findings for television advertisers is the growing separation between CTV and linear television.

The report categorises CTV homes according to their relationship with linear television. Around 41% are regular linear-TV viewers, 27% are light-linear viewers, another 27% are cord-cutters and 5% have never been connected to linear television.

This means that 32% of CTV households are either cord-cutters or cord-nevers and therefore cannot be adequately reached through conventional linear television.

Almost a third of CTV households have disconnected their cable or DTH connection entirely. Interestingly, the study finds that cord-cutting increases as media affluence declines, challenging the assumption that the behaviour is primarily associated with affluent, technology-forward households. The report links the trend partly to tighter household budgets, preference for OTT content and the flexibility and content quality offered by streaming.

For media planners, this could increasingly make CTV a reach necessity rather than simply an incremental digital extension of a television campaign.

Prime time is moving to connected screens

CTV is also reproducing many of the viewing patterns historically associated with linear television.

Between 8 pm and 10 pm on weekdays, 78% of CTV viewers are active on the big screen, compared with 63% for linear television. On weekends, CTV's 8 pm-10 pm activity stands at 73%, compared with 61% for linear TV.

The study therefore challenges the idea that OTT viewing is necessarily fragmented into short, individual consumption sessions on smartphones.

CTV audiences spend an average 2.9 hours a day watching the big screen. The viewing is particularly concentrated around long-form entertainment and live sports.

Web series lead CTV content preferences at 69%, followed by cricket at 64% and theatrical films at 63%. Direct-to-OTT films account for 59%, music and songs 51%, reality shows 47%, GEC fiction 47% and news 47%.

Cricket remains particularly suited to the shared-screen environment. The report says 64% of the CTV audience watches cricket, with 84% of cricket viewing involving co-viewing and 45% watching with the entire family.

One CTV impression can reach 2.5 people

Perhaps the biggest challenge CTV creates for traditional digital measurement is the importance of co-viewing.

More than 80% of CTV viewing is shared with family or friends. The average CTV household contains 3.3 people, while a single CTV advertising impression reaches approximately 2.5 household members.

That makes the conventional digital assumption of one impression equalling one individual potentially misleading when applied to the television screen.

The report argues that reach, frequency and attribution therefore need to be considered at the household level. A single advertisement served to one television can simultaneously influence multiple people, while individual-cookie-based digital measurement may fail to capture the actual exposure occurring in the room.

This is also where unified measurement between linear TV and CTV becomes important.

Sajit Gopal, Head of Media at Domino’s India (Jubilant FoodWorks), said advertisers need cross-screen frequency management and unified measurement so that television and CTV can be evaluated through a common lens rather than through separate dashboards.

CTV advertising is translating attention into action

The report also highlights strong post-ad engagement.

Across CTV viewers, 83% seek more information after seeing an advertisement. Among premium CTV viewers, that figure rises to 89%.

This creates a potentially important bridge between television advertising and digital commerce. The report suggests that brands can use CTV not merely for awareness but to move audiences further down the funnel, provided search, web and other digital touchpoints are prepared to capture the resulting consumer interest.

The finding is particularly relevant for premium categories. The study defines premium CTV audiences as the top 15% of urban CTV viewers based on their spending propensity across products, memberships and services. This group comprises around 21 million urban CTV viewers, spends approximately three hours a day on CTV and has an 89% rate of seeking more information after seeing an advertisement.

The premium cohort also over-indexes on categories such as finance, travel, home and quick commerce. Among this audience, 95% have at least one car, 72% have a credit card, 80% travel domestically by air and 55% travel internationally.

Gen Z is not abandoning the big screen

Another finding that could alter assumptions about younger consumers is that Gen Z has not abandoned television screens.

The report says Gen Z CTV viewers spend around 3.1 hours a day on CTV, with 46% increasing their CTV usage over the past year. As many as 77% watch with friends or family, while only 23% watch alone.

For this audience, cricket and web series each attract 64% preference, while theatrical films attract 60%. Meanwhile, 68% prefer watching OTT applications on a smart TV and 62% value the flexibility provided by OTT applications.

The implication is that advertisers targeting Gen Z may need to think beyond mobile and social platforms. CTV provides a larger, shared environment in which younger viewers consume long-form content, particularly entertainment and sports.

Millennials form the backbone of CTV

Millennials represent another critical cohort, accounting for 38% of the CTV audience and spending an average 2.8 hours a day on CTV.

The study describes them as the most committed long-form viewers and among the most ad-responsive audiences. More than half—56%—have increased their CTV usage in the past year.

Web series are the leading format for millennials at 74%, followed by theatrical films at 67% and cricket at 64%.

Mothers, meanwhile, account for 20% of the CTV audience and spend around 2.9 hours a day on the platform. Their viewing is particularly shared: 89% watch with friends or family, compared with 11% who watch alone.

For advertisers, this creates an unusual opportunity to reach a household decision-maker while other family members are present on the same screen.

FAST emerges as an untapped inventory opportunity

Free ad-supported television, or FAST, is identified by the report as one of the next major opportunities within India's CTV ecosystem.

FAST combines linear and on-demand programming and is typically integrated directly into smart-TV operating systems without requiring a subscription. One-third of CTV viewers are already aware of FAST, while one in five watches FAST for close to 50 minutes a day.

FAST viewers also spend more time on CTV overall, averaging 3.4 hours a day compared with 2.9 hours across the entire CTV audience.

The audience currently skews toward Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh-Telangana and Tamil Nadu, with news, movies and entertainment content dominating consumption. The report describes FAST as the single largest untapped ad-funded inventory opportunity within Indian CTV.

Advertisers move towards Total TV planning

The report's central planning recommendation is that brands should stop treating linear television and CTV as entirely separate channels.

In urban India, 47% of TV households are CTV households, compared with 31% across India. At the same time, 68% of CTV households continue to consume linear television. The implication is that CTV should complement linear TV and be treated as another component of a Total TV strategy.

For affluent audiences, the report recommends making CTV the base plan, with selected linear-TV programmes used to generate incremental reach. It also suggests using signals such as NCCS, device type, premium auto ownership, credit-card ownership and international travel to identify high-value audiences.

For cord-cutters and light-linear viewers, the recommendation is different: campaigns should be designed primarily around CTV because linear television cannot deliver sufficient reach among these households.

CTV can also be used for hyperlocal targeting, including at the pin-code level, allowing brands to target specific towns and store catchment areas and adjust media pressure based on local inventory and promotional requirements.

Measurement remains the industry's next battleground

As CTV scales, measurement is likely to become one of the most important issues for advertisers and media agencies.

The report says the next phase of CTV will involve household IDs, privacy-safe audience signals and platform-agnostic cross-screen measurement. Household IDs could allow brands to connect exposure across linear TV, CTV and other screens to an anonymous household, enabling better frequency management, incremental-reach measurement and sequencing of communications.

The report envisages CTV moving from a scale-led proposition to an intelligence-led medium, with AI-driven, interactive and shoppable formats connecting big-screen exposure with searches, enquiries, add-to-cart actions, store visits and purchases.

Targeting is also expected to evolve beyond geography and affluence towards privacy-safe signals such as household life stage, language, content preferences and shopping behaviour.

For the television advertising industry, this could represent a structural shift. CTV is increasingly capable of delivering the scale and storytelling associated with television while adding the precision and accountability associated with digital.

The report's larger message is therefore less about CTV replacing linear television and more about the definition of television itself changing. With 207 million viewers already on connected screens, rapid rural expansion, increasing cord-cutting and high levels of shared viewing, advertisers may increasingly have to plan for a single big-screen ecosystem rather than treating traditional TV and streaming as separate worlds.