From mobile phones to screens, watching content has evolved tremendously, especially on the back of the pandemic. From Netflix to Amazon Prime Videos, to Zee5, SonyLive, you name it and today every second household is a subscriber to one of these or even two to three platforms. What this has also provided is advertisers a chance to tap into this audience base which is more engaged and spends more time. This is perhaps also a reason why marquee events including the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the World Cup have been able to cash in on it most. “Advertisers are gradually gravitating toward CTV due to its targeted advertising capabilities, which allow for more precise audience engagement. When compared to traditional advertising methods, this approach is proving to be more effective in reaching the desired demographics. CTV’s seamless integration into smart home ecosystems, as well as the growing trend of wireless tech, add to its allure. The combination of these elements drives the widespread adoption of CTVs,” Vinod K. Singh, a serial entrepreneur, tech visionary and advisor, said.
CTV advertising spends in India are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 47% in the next five years to reach $395 million by 2027, according to a GroupM’s Finecast and Kantar report.
Screens and Streams!
The adoption of CTV has been driven by key factors such as the integration of smart TVs and internet-enabled OTT platforms, providing a unified platform for accessing content on a single screen. The availability of content options have contributed to its increasing popularity among viewers. “CTV has predominant viewership across the metros among affluent, younger audiences. With the rise of regional and vernacular OTT content, there is a huge scope for CTV’s growth in tier-2 and 3 cities in India,” Siddharth Dabhade, global commercial board member and managing director, MiQ, said.
Moreover, the affordability of Smart TVs has accelerated the integration of CTV into households beyond metros, eliminating the need for external devices such as dongles or Firesticks. “On a larger level, we also witness that evolving lifestyles and preferences – especially among the younger demographics – contribute to a shift towards on-demand and digital content consumption,” Nikhil Kumar, chief growth officer- mediasmart, Affle, said.
As of 2022, the number of households in India that owned connected TV sets amounted to 25 million, as per market research firm Statista. This is estimated to almost double by 2025. However, television viewership across all markets in the country has declined since 2020, the report stated. Besides the coronavirus pandemic, factors such as increasing streaming activity and consumers switching from pay TV to CTV have played a role in changing linear TV viewing habits in India. “Advertisers, recognising the potential benefits, are leveraging CTV to increase ad recalls. The personalised messaging capabilities on CTV allow advertisers to tailor their messages to specific audiences, ensuring a more targeted and effective approach. This alignment with CTV enables advertisers to reach viewers at the most opportune moments, further fueling the momentum of CTV adoption in 2023,” Aamir Mulani, founder and CEO, PlayboxTV, said.
Brands’ tryst with CTV
Experts opine that brands are increasingly investing in CTV advertising due to its expanding reach and ability to drive return-on-investment (RoI). It offers precise targeting, engaging viewers with personalised ads, and providing measurable results, making it an attractive platform for advertisers. With its ability to reach cord-cutters and younger demographics, CTV presents a valuable opportunity for brands to connect with their audiences in a meaningful way. Additionally, the platform offers brand safety features, allowing advertisers to control where their ads appear. These advantages have led to significant investments from brands looking to leverage the growing popularity of CTV for their advertising campaigns,” Jay Ganesan, senior vice president, APAC, Amagi, said.
Moreover, post the IPl and ICC Men’s World Cup it is believed that brands have begun to include CTV in its media plans. l. JBL, Caratlane, Malabar, IndusInd Bank, Booking.com, Zomato among others are some of the brands which have advertised during this year’s World Cup. “In 2023, CTV ad engagement spiked with the dominance of streaming, boosted by major sports events on platforms such as Disney+ Hotstar. PlayboxTV’s partnership with Disney+ Hotstar for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup added to the momentum. Sports content led to ad engagement, influenced by economic forecasts, shaping CTV advertising trends,” Mulani added.
According to a FAST report by Amagi, news was the top-performing genre in terms of ad impressions on CTV in Q2, FY23, followed by movies and nature. The trend is likely because news content is generally more engaging and viewers are more likely to pay attention to the ads that are shown during news breaks, the report stated.
Industry experts opined that the IPL was the game changer, with Jio offering free streaming. Not to mention, it is also one of the most expensive sporting properties.. “The annual cricketing festival combined with the shared and enhanced experience of watching sports made it a perfect fit. It was then replicated by Disney+Hotstar during the Asia Cup, the ICC ODI World Cup and now the Pro-Kabaddi League. Hotstar even set the record for the highest concurrent viewership at 59 million. Due to such events, I believe that CTV penetration can be projected to double by 2025,” Bhavesh Talreja, CEO, Globale Media, said.
Advertisers’ new go-to option?
It is believed that CTV has enabled advertisers to experiment with strategies for activating their campaigns, adding new capabilities such as targeting viewers based on their content consumption habits using Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) data. With CTV advertisers can deploy advanced targeting strategies which include reach and frequency planning across OTT platforms and YouTube, making video advertising spending more efficient and data-driven. “It brings capabilities such as retargeting viewers across devices with CTV household sync and competitor conquesting (targeting viewers who have been exposed to a competitor’s ads). Brands have also experimented with shoppable ads (ads with a call to action or a QR code at the bottom) during the IPL. In 2024, we can expect AI-driven ads to make their debut on CTV,” Dabhade expressed.
Originally, consumers were used to paying for the Internet and then separately paying for entertainment. This changed when internet service providers (ISPs) started entertaining for free with their internet packages. In a way, this completed the cycle, as entertainment today is one of the major consumers of the internet in a household. “PlayboxTV partners with the ISPs and cable operators to provide the entertainment side of their offering thus making their packages competitive with the ones that the bigger telcos offer,” Mulani said.
The road ahead
Experts believe, India is expected to become the third largest TV advertising market globally by 2024 with CTV advertising playing a key role in this growth as the number of linear TV and Direct-to-Home (DTH) households plateaus. “In 2024, sports events such as IPL and the upcoming T20 Cricket World Cup, general election news and entertainment would boost CTV viewership. Cord-nevers (households without a pay TV/DTH plan) and cord-cutters would continue to grow, with more growth coming from non-urban areas,” Dabhade highlighted.
Considering the escalating trend witnessed in recent years and the surge in popularity of smart TVs, OTT platforms, and live streaming, Connected TV (CTV) is steadily asserting itself as the prevailing mode of television viewing. “In the coming years, CTV is set to play a crucial role in shaping the global OTT industry, focusing on content experience, advertising, and efficiency in 2024. Expect enhanced streaming quality, AI-driven personalisation, and programmatic advertising precision leveraging first-party data,” Manish Sinha, founder and CEO, RunnTV, said.
According to a report by FICCI-EY, Smart connected TVs will exceed 40 million (daily active users) by 2025, thereby ending the monopoly of broadcasters on the large screen and leading to around 30% of content consumed on large screens being social, gaming, digital, etc. The unified interface – whether on app, device or platform – will become the new landing page and earn placement and marketing revenues and OTT aggregation will be a key driver of growth on CTV. According to Sinha, shoppable ads and increased interactivity will further redefine advertising. Efficiency gains through technological advancements will be vital for cost reduction in content processing, operations, ad insertion, and analytics.