📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Utagawa Hiroshige
Business
India's Connected TV audience reaches 207 million, rural viewership doubles
✍️ Exchange4Media
🗓 20 Aug 2026, 05:37 AM
👁 5
India's connected TV (CTV) audience has climbed to 207 million, with rural viewership doubling, reshaping TV advertising approaches.
The latest data shows that India’s connected TV (CTV) audience now stands at 207 million users, marking a significant milestone for the digital‑media landscape.
Rural viewership has surged, effectively doubling compared with previous measurements, indicating that high‑speed internet penetration and affordable smart‑TV devices are reaching deeper into the hinterland.
Advertisers are taking note, as the expanded rural base offers new inventory and a broader demographic for brand messaging. Media agencies are recalibrating media plans to allocate more spend toward CTV slots that target non‑urban households, anticipating higher engagement rates.
Industry analysts predict that the shift could reshape overall TV ad spend, with a larger share moving from traditional broadcast to programmatic CTV platforms, especially in regions that were previously under‑served.
Rural viewership has surged, effectively doubling compared with previous measurements, indicating that high‑speed internet penetration and affordable smart‑TV devices are reaching deeper into the hinterland.
Advertisers are taking note, as the expanded rural base offers new inventory and a broader demographic for brand messaging. Media agencies are recalibrating media plans to allocate more spend toward CTV slots that target non‑urban households, anticipating higher engagement rates.
Industry analysts predict that the shift could reshape overall TV ad spend, with a larger share moving from traditional broadcast to programmatic CTV platforms, especially in regions that were previously under‑served.