IPL 2026: Linear and Connected TV solidify roles as complementary partners
The 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) demonstrated linear TV and Connected TV (CTV) as complementary advertising platforms, not competing ones, with cross-screen campaigns becoming standard. Industry experts discuss how this dual-screen reality is changing advertising measurement, budget allocation, and the definition of a television viewer. Key topics include de-duplicating reach, managing demographic splits between the platforms, and the evolving roles of linear TV versus CTV for advertisers.
Key Takeaways
- Linear TV remains the dominant reach engine, with estimated annual ad revenues of ₹48,000 crore compared to CTV's ₹1,500-2,000 crore.
- CTV household penetration surged 85% year-on-year, attracting over 60 exclusive advertisers that bypassed traditional broadcast buys entirely.
- A demographic split has emerged, with legacy mass-market brands like Cadbury favoring linear, while premium credit card and auto brands prioritize CTV.
- Google emerged as the 2026 season's top advertiser across both platforms, utilizing unified communication strategies to capture broad and precise audiences.
Why It Matters
The shift from a 'TV versus digital' rivalry to a unified dual-screen ecosystem indicates that saturation in linear reach is being offset by CTV's precision and engagement. For the streaming industry, this matures the role of FAST channels and OEM-led operating systems as viable mass-market alternatives to traditional cable. Advertisers are now prioritizing deduplicated reach and attention-based metrics over siloed platform impressions. Watch for the industry-wide adoption of unified measurement standards to resolve persistent cross-platform reporting gaps.
Additional Context
The 2026 IPL season follows a period of massive structural consolidation in the Indian media landscape. Per The Economic Times (April 2025), the merger of Star India and Viacom18 into JioStar created a media powerhouse controlling both linear and digital IPL rights. This consolidation enabled unified ad sales strategies that helped project total league ad revenues toward $600 million. By mid-May 2026, JioStar’s cumulative reach across both platforms had crossed 1.06 billion screens, marking a 7% increase over the previous season.
Simultaneously, the measurement infrastructure has scrambled to keep pace with this fragmentation. Per Agency Reporter (June 2026), BARC India and Nielsen launched 'BARC | Nielsen ONE Ads,' the country's first four-screen deduplicated measurement solution covering linear TV, CTV, mobile, and desktop. While JioHotstar became the first platform to adopt the framework for the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, widespread adoption remains a hurdle as other major publishers weigh the risks of data sharing against advertiser demands for transparency.
Financial forecasts from GroupM (February 2025) indicated that while linear TV ad spend in India was expected to remain largely flat or face slight declines of roughly 1%, digital video extensions and addressable TV would drive nearly all incremental growth. By 2026, India's CTV ad market was projected to reach approximately ₹8,000 crore, per Madison (March 2026). This trajectory is supported by a significant shift in hardware, with sales of 55-inch and larger smart TVs rising 43% in the lead-up to these major sporting events, effectively moving premium content consumption back to the living room's 'big screen.'
Read full article at adgully.com
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