Brands will face recall and impact risks without CTV strategies in 2026

Connected TV (CTV) has quietly moved from being a 'nice-to-have' in Indian media plans to becoming impossible to ignore. The growth tells a compelling story: globally, CTV now stands as the second-fastest growing advertising medium, trailing only retail media. If you look at the trajectory in India specifically, we are witnessing something remarkable unfold.

Over 70 million Indian households have already made the shift to CTV, with the bulk of this audience concentrated in metros, megacities, and a growing segment in rural areas. These are not passive viewers; they are engaged, affluent, and making deliberate choices about what they watch and when. For advertisers, this represents not just scale, but quality at scale.

Yet, despite this momentum, we still hear the same concerns in every industry conversation: fragmentation, measurement challenges, and the lack of unified metrics. These are real issues, and yes, we are working through them. But what I have learned in two decades in this business is that every emerging platform goes through this phase. The internet did. Mobile did. Now, CTV is having its moment.

As we look toward 2026, I see three fundamental shifts that will reshape how we think about and use CTV in India.

1. The perception shift: CTV is not ‘digital’

The perception shift needed in 2026 is acknowledging that CTV stands as an advanced version of linear television. Households still gather to watch, and viewing preferences remain largely consistent. The upgrade is purely technological—the screen itself. This evolution brings the best of both worlds: the broad, impactful reach linear TV has always delivered, now enhanced with the precision targeting capabilities of digital.

For brands, CTV is more than 'premium TV inventory.' It offers the targeting precision of digital, the creative flexibility of online video, and the engagement metrics we have come to expect from performance channels—all delivered on the largest screen in the home. By 2026, advertisers will likely view linear and streaming as a single medium, leveraging digital power to drive both awareness and engagement.

2. The power shift: Following the audience

When households allocate considerable resources toward experiences rather than mere possessions, they reveal themselves as the affluent audience we set out to reach. What is happening is a fundamental power shift in media consumption. The audience that advertisers want most—affluent, educated, and digitally savvy consumers—is increasingly unreachable through traditional channels.

By 2026, this will not just be a trend; it will be the norm. Brands without a sophisticated CTV strategy will find themselves in a 'dark' advertising ecosystem where impact and recall are negligible, while their competition engages the future. Power has shifted to platforms that respect viewer choice while delivering immersive advertising experiences.

3. The performance shift: From impressions to impact

CTV in 2026 will finally deliver on the promise of measurable brand building. The fundamental challenge today is not whether CTV works, but the fragmentation of what, how, and where to buy it. Currently, no single platform offers comprehensive access to the entire ecosystem; advertisers are navigating a patchwork of vendors and walled gardens.

As adtech evolves, we will see the emergence of platforms providing 360-degree access across the CTV landscape. More critically, measurement will finally become unified—integrating performance data, brand lift metrics, and actual behavioral changes into a single, coherent view.

While fragmentation remains a challenge and we still need better standardization, these are growing pains, not fatal flaws. The India CTV story is just beginning. As we move through 2026, the brands and agencies that embrace these shifts in Perception, Power, and Performance will define the next era of advertising.

The question is not whether CTV will be important. It is whether you will be ready when it becomes indispensable.

This article is penned by Somendu Singh, Chief Contributor, CTV Scale