With a digital transformation taking place in India and consumers steadily moving away from traditional linear TV to CTV (connected TV) and streamers, according to a new study, over 65 percent respondents subscribe to more than one OTT app and out of the audience surveyed, 78 percent owned a smart TV.

There is over 40 percent adoption for the leading eight OTT apps in India, which include Disney+Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, ZEE5, MXPlayer, SonyLIV, VOOT and Alt Balaji. The inclination on app usage is also heavily dependent on seasonality and timing, states the new report from Affle company mediasmart, in association with VTION and Interactive Avenues.

About 93 percent of the smart TV users, who were polled, access Internet-based content.

Dwelling on the digital transformation going on in India, mediasmart in a blogspot said the change “presents an untapped advertising opportunity for brands and advertisers”.

Titled India CTV Report 2021 – Mapping Connected TV (CTV) Viewership in India and the Opportunities for Brands, the report maps the changing media consumption patterns of the Indian consumer.

The report highlights consumer adoption insights layered with an expert view on the possible advertising potential of the CTV medium.

Some of the highlights of the report are:

1. Out of the select audience surveyed, 78 percent own a smart TV and 93 percent of these smart TV users access internet-based content
2. CTV users are young, urban adults who are already mobile-first and are actively engaging with diverse apps —89 percent of the respondents are social media users, 82 percent participate in e-commerce and 44 percent are gamers, for instance.
3. Over 59 percent respondents prefer downloading apps via smart TV app store, while 26 percent respondents primarily consume content via pre-installed apps and a small section (15% respondents) use the dongle to stream content on TV.
4. Close to 70 percent of respondents spend between 1 to 4 hours on CTV watching movies (91%), streaming music (64%), playing games (47%) or watching news (64%).
5. Over 65 percent of respondents subscribe to more than one OTT app. There is 40%+ adoption for the leading eight OTT apps in India. The inclination on app usage is also heavily dependent on seasonality and timing
6. There is a limited barrier to viewership and adoption. Unlike mobile usage of the Internet, which requires literacy levels, CTV consumption cuts across age, language, and city barriers. By going vernacular, advertisers can engage with users in ads of their language.

The blogspot quotes Nikhil Kumar, Senior Director, mediasmart, as saying: “The world is moving towards immersive watching experiences and CTV is an exciting space to be at. It is interesting to see leading advertisers in the country adopt CTV advertising as a critical new addition to their media mix. CTV advertising is here to stay and with evolutionary solutions provided by mediasmart on Household Sync technology, we are powering brands to engage with relevant consumers across the connected devices.”

India is a young market with a tremendous potential for CTV adoption, the company states, adding, CTV inherently is more engaging than traditional TVs and brings together the twin strengths of (a) engaging storytelling associated with CTV advertising and (b) targeting associated with programmatic & digital advertising.

With data plans becoming more affordable, India is one of the biggest markets of Internet users. Availability of cheap smart TV sets, diverse and affordable Internet content and an untapped demographic group opening to the digital-first world presents a massive opportunity for CTV adoption and growth, the report highlights.

This makes for a fertile ground for advertisers to innovate solutions for different brands with diverse business needs. mediasmart is driving the CTV innovation across India, SEA, Europe and other key markets and aims to revolutionize the way brands interact with consumers on various connected devices.

The Affle’s mediasmart report, in partnership with Vtion, conducted primary research across a balanced mix of 521 NCCS (socio-economic classifications) A and B consumers across top Indian metro cities in States including Delhi-NCR, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, Gujarat, West Bengal, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh.