Key Takeaways
India has about 65 million active CTV households, per Media Partners Asia CEO Vivek Couto
India CTV advertising stands at about $850 million
Couto expects CTV advertising in India to match traditional TV advertising by 2027
India's paid-TV subscriptions fell from about 125 million to 80 million
CTV ad spend works out to about $13 per active CTV household a year
India CTV advertising is on track to match linear TV advertising by 2027.
That forecast comes from Vivek Couto, CEO of Media Partners Asia, speaking at FICCI Frames 2026. afaqs! reported his numbers on 29 September 2026.
Couto put India at about 65 million active connected TV homes, with CTV advertising at about $850 million. If you plan video for an Indian brand, the big screen is about to compete for the same budget as TV.
How big is India CTV advertising in 2026?
India CTV advertising stands at about $850 million in 2026, according to Media Partners Asia CEO Vivek Couto at FICCI Frames 2026. India has about 65 million active CTV households. Couto expects CTV advertising in India to match traditional TV advertising by 2027.
A second study backs the household count. A WPP Media and The Trade Desk report found 207 million viewers across 62 to 65 million households, exchange4media reported in August.
The same study found that 32% of CTV homes have cut the cord or never had linear TV. A linear TV plan can't reach those homes.
New kinds of advertiser are arriving too, with B2B ads moving onto streaming TV through LinkedIn and Amazon.
5 numbers Couto shared at FICCI Frames
- India has about 65 million active CTV households
- CTV advertising in India is about $850 million
- India's paid-TV subscriptions fell from about 125 million before the pandemic to 80 million
- India's online video content investment almost tripled since 2021 to $2.6 billion
- India's screen spending is about $8 per person, against nearly $900 in the US
All 5 numbers are from afaqs!'s report of the talk.
India's screen economy in 1 table
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Active CTV households | About 65 million |
| CTV viewers | 207 million |
| CTV ad spend | About $850 million |
| Paid-TV subscriptions | About 125 million down to 80 million |
| TV revenue | About $7 billion in 2021, $4.8 billion in 2026 |
| Online video revenue | About $2 billion in 2021, $6 billion in 2026 |
| Screen spend per person | India $8.4, US $889 |
| Screen economy as a share of GDP | India 0.3%, US 0.9% |
For scale, MPA puts China at $63 per person, South Korea at $253 and Japan at $283.
3 sums from the reported numbers
Divide $850 million by 65 million homes. You get about $13 of CTV ad spend per active home a year.
Paid TV lost about 45 million subscriptions. That's a 36% drop from the base before the pandemic.
The US spends about 106 times more per person on screens than India does, going by MPA's $889 and $8.4.
These 3 sums are ours, built on the figures in the table.
The 2027 forecast comes with 1 gap
afaqs! reports the forecast with no linear TV ad figure beside it. So the published numbers can't tell you how far CTV has to climb.
MPA's wider figures show the direction. TV revenue is projected at $4.8 billion in 2026, down from about $7 billion in 2021.
Couto also expects online video to reach about $10 billion by 2031, with premium video at about 20% of that.
"The opportunity now is to monetise that scale more efficiently." - Vivek Couto, CEO and Executive Director, Media Partners Asia
Measurement is the catch for CTV buyers
exchange4media's 5 October report on CTV measurement found a basic problem. A CTV ad reaches a home, and the screen is shared.
"an impression can tell you the house, but not necessarily who had the remote" - Gulrez Alam, Chief Revenue Officer - India & Emerging Markets, Affle
The same report carries 2 numbers in CTV's favour. The Trade Desk cites research that 1 impression reaches 2.5 household members on average.
Samsung Ads says 1 campaign for a packaged goods brand delivered 47% incremental reach over linear TV.
Buyers are still cautious. Fashion brand Libas told exchange4media it puts more of its budget into digital channels while CTV measurement matures.
3 things to do with these numbers
Brief your next video for the big screen. Write it for a shared room, since 1 impression reaches about 2.5 people.
Ask your CTV partner how it counts reach. Household reach and person reach are 2 separate numbers.
Benchmark your video budget against a larger market. Our report on the US digital ad market's record year shows where video money went there.
Disclaimer: This article is AI-assisted and may contain errors, so please verify key details in your own research.
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