India Put 78 Million More Streaming Viewers on TV

India added nearly 78 million connected-TV (CTV) viewers in one year.

Ormax Media estimates that India’s active CTV audience reached 206.9 million people in 2026, up 60% from 129.2 million in 2025. The country’s overall online-video audience increased 11% to 664.9 million, equal to 45% of the population.

India remains a smartphone-led streaming market. The difference is that nearly one-third of its online-video audience now also watches via CTV.

That gives streaming services a larger audience for the programming, advertising and subscription products that work best on the biggest screen in the home. It also gives TV manufacturers, operating systems and streaming devices more control over which services those viewers find first.

Streaming Growth Is Moving to the Bigger Screen

Ormax defines an online-video viewer as someone who watched at least one free or paid video during the previous month. That includes streaming shows and movies, social video, microdramas and FAST channels.

The broad audience definition helps explain the category’s reach. Watching a free clip on a phone and paying for a streaming service on a TV are different behaviors, even when both people count toward the same total.

CTV growth identifies the more important change for media companies.

A viewer watching through a TV is entering an environment designed for longer sessions, shared viewing and full-screen advertising. They can still watch YouTube or social video. They are also more likely to encounter subscription apps, live sports, movies, series and FAST channels inside the same interface.

India’s CTV audience grew faster than the overall online-video market for the second consecutive year. It increased 85% between 2024 and 2025 before adding another 60% in 2026.

The market is no longer defined only by how many people can stream on a phone. The next competition is over what they choose after the TV turns on.

The TV Home Screen Becomes More Valuable

India’s largest streaming services have spent years competing through mobile apps, telecom bundles and low-cost plans. Connected TV adds another distributor to the sale.

Google TV, Android TV, Fire TV and the operating systems built into Samsung, LG and other manufacturers can influence which apps appear on the home screen, which services receive promotional placement and where a viewer creates an account.

That position becomes more valuable as large-screen usage increases. A streaming service can acquire a phone viewer through a mobile carrier and still depend on a TV platform to reach that person in the living room.

The platform can sell home-screen placement, advertising, subscription signups and recommendations around the session. It may also see viewing behavior across several services while each individual app sees only its own activity.

Control of the screen increasingly determines who controls discovery and the transaction. India’s additional CTV users increase the number of households where that leverage can be exercised.

The available data counts people rather than households or devices. It doesn’t show which operating systems gained the audience or how many people share each screen. Those figures will determine how concentrated the distribution opportunity becomes.

A Bigger Screen Can Support a Different Ad Market

India’s online-video market has generated enormous reach without producing the same revenue per viewer as the U.S. and other mature advertising markets.

Connected TV can improve that equation.

A full-screen ad delivered during a movie, live match or long-form program can command a different price from an impression inside a rapidly scrolling phone feed. The TV environment can also support longer sessions, household targeting, sponsorships and campaigns sold alongside premium programming.

The audience increase gives advertisers more CTV inventory to buy. It doesn’t establish that the inventory is already being sold at premium prices.

Streaming services and TV platforms still need reliable measurement, enough logged-in users, consistent ad delivery and a clear way to control frequency across apps. Buyers need to know which households they reached and whether they paid several times to reach the same people through different services.

The useful scorecard is not CTV users alone. It includes hours watched on TV, ad-supported viewing, sell-through, effective CPMs and advertiser renewal.

If those measurements improve with the audience, connected TV can turn India’s streaming scale into a larger advertising business.

Paid Subscriptions Are Growing Through More Than Direct Sales

Ormax estimates that active paid streaming subscriptions increased 16% to 172.6 million.

That total counts subscriptions used at least once during the month, including access obtained through telecom bundles and streaming aggregators. It does not represent 172.6 million unique paying households.

The distinction is important in India, where distributors frequently include streaming services with mobile, broadband and pay-TV packages. A customer may receive several services through one bill without buying each app directly.

Bundling can move a service onto the TV faster than direct marketing. It can also leave the distributor in control of the payment, promotion and initial customer relationship.

Streaming services gain reach and viewing. They may surrender part of the revenue, data or ability to set prices for the bundled customer.

That trade becomes more attractive when the market is growing quickly. The service doesn’t need every viewer to begin with a direct subscription if a carrier, broadband provider or TV platform can put the app in front of millions of people at once.

The operating question is what happens after access arrives. Activation, viewing, upgrades and retention determine whether a bundled subscription produces a customer or merely another unused icon.

FAST Has an Audience but Not Yet a Proven Business

Ormax estimates that 35.2 million people in India now watch FAST channels.

That is a small share of the country’s online-video audience and a meaningful starting point for free, scheduled streaming TV. FAST can give viewers immediate programming without another subscription and give rights owners another place to monetize catalogs, news and genre programming.

CTV growth helps because FAST is easier to use when channels open directly on the largest screen. TV platforms can place free channels beside subscription apps and conventional broadcast options, reducing the effort required to find something to watch.

The category still has to prove its economics in India. Audience size alone doesn’t disclose viewing hours, fill rates, CPMs or the revenue returned to channel operators.

FAST platforms become more powerful as channel supply grows and home-screen placement becomes scarce. India’s CTV expansion creates room for the category. It also gives the companies controlling the interface more influence over which free channels receive meaningful exposure.

Phones Aren’t Leaving the Market

India’s average online-video viewer spends 14.9 hours a week across streaming, social video, FAST and emerging formats including microdramas.

CTV growth doesn’t mean that viewing is leaving phones. It means more people can move between screens depending on the program, time and location.

A short drama may begin on a phone. A cricket match, movie or series may move to TV. Clips and creator commentary can continue on mobile after the full program ends.

Streaming services that treat those sessions as separate products risk losing the customer between them. The stronger position belongs to companies that can maintain profiles, watchlists, recommendations and advertising controls as viewers move from one screen to another.

The report doesn’t disclose how much of India’s 517 billion estimated annual online-video hours occurs on connected TVs. That is the next number the market needs.

Two hundred million people with TV access create a distribution opportunity. Their actual viewing determines its value.

The Streaming Wars Take

India’s online-video audience is still expanding, but the fastest growth is happening on TV.

The addition of nearly 78 million CTV viewers creates more demand for long-form programming, live sports, full-screen advertising and subscription apps designed for the living room. It also increases the power of the operating systems and device companies standing between those viewers and the services they open.

Streaming services can gain reach through telecom bundles, aggregators and TV platforms. The companies handling discovery and billing gain another opportunity to own the transaction.

The audience numbers don’t yet prove higher revenue. Ormax counts users rather than households, paid access includes bundles and the report doesn’t disclose TV viewing hours or CTV advertising performance.

Ormax has established the audience size. It hasn’t disclosed how many hours those 206.9 million people watch on TV or how much revenue their viewing generates. Those numbers will determine whether CTV growth produces more subscriptions and advertising revenue—or simply more screens capable of streaming.