Now streaming: The Pulse Magazine OTT & CTV edition 2025

The endless scroll. The autoplay countdown. The thrill of a first-day-first-stream. OTT has become the pulse of entertainment. From blockbuster premieres to snacky shorts, from documentaries that spark debates to dramas that fuel group chats, streaming has become central to how people watch and share stories.

The Pulse Magazine’s OTT & CTV Edition 2025 captures this moment. 

Co-viewing is back. Brands are experimenting. Audiences are leaning in. Banner ads still pay the bills. But the real action lies in formats that blur the line between content and commerce. Shoppable videos are making stories interactive. Partnerships are weaving brands into narratives. CTV is stepping up from side role to centre stage in big-ticket campaigns.

This edition tracks the trends that are turning streaming into the most exciting space for both storytelling and advertising. It also dives deep into the shared screen economy, spotlighting the shifts that are shaping the connected screen economy.

For the cover story, Sonal Kabi, Director & Head of Marketing, Prime Video, India speaks to Social Samosa’s Editor-in-Chief, Mrinil Mathur Rajwani, sharing exclusive insights into the platform's journey in India. Asked to define the journey in one word, Sonal chooses ‘Innovative’ — a word that also captures the spirit of the OTT and CTV ecosystem in India.

Featured voices

• Building advertiser value on OTT platforms by Ashish Pherwani, Leader, Media & Entertainment Sector, EY India
• How co-viewing is redefining OTT by Arnab Dutta, Associate Vice President, Specialist Business, Insights Division, Kantar
• How to plan for CTV? by Aditi Mishra, CEO, Lodestar UM
• The tech behind the target by Abhijeet Rajpurohit, COO and Co-Founder, Cloud TV
• Content Discovery is the new king in the OTT space by Avinash Mudaliar, CEO & Co-Founder OTTplay

Must-read interviews

• YouTube hits play for brands on CTV ft. Shubha Pai, Head of Brand Solutions at Google India
• ZEE5 eyes its next phase of growth ft. Kartik Mahadev, Chief Marketing Officer at ZEEL
• Cracking the ‘Habit Formula’ the Hoichoi way ft. Vishnu Mohta, Co-Founder, Hoichoi and Executive Director of Sri Venkatesh Films (SVF)
• Why SonyLIV bets on depth over hype ft. Saugata Mukherjee, Head of Content, SonyLIV
• What’s driving India’s anime moment? ft. Akshat Sahu, Vice President, GTM & Partnerships Marketing, APAC & MENA at Crunchyroll

CTV dominance

With insights from Ramya Parashar, COO, MiQ, Vedavyas Badri, Deputy Vice President – Programmatic Buying at LS Digital, Karan Khanna, COO & Co-Founder, Huella Services, Arjit Sachdeva, Co-founder and CTO, VDO.AI, Russhabh R Thakkar, Founder & CEO, Frodoh and Sonica Sharma, Director of Sales, India at mCanvas, the edition answers the big question: Are brands flipping to CTV?

Integrations over Interruptions

From product placements to strategic plotlines, how is native storytelling unlocking long-term brand equity for brands willing to experiment on OTT platforms? Gopa Kumar Menon, Co-founder & Chief Operating Officer, Theblurr, Prachi Narayan, Managing Partner, Havas Play and Arvind Pillai, Business Director, Madison Loop decode.

When brands become a part of the narrative

Shamita Islur digs deep into how brands become part of the narrative with the most coveted brand-side insights from Shantanu Gangane, IMX Lead at Coca-Cola India, Nitin Khanna, Vice President Marketing at ACKO and Siddharth Gupta, General Manager - Marketing and Riya Joseph, General Manager - Media at Britannia.

Winning India with language-first stories

Sneha Medda speaks to Satheesh P R, CEO of MMTv Ltd., Dhruvin Shah, Founder and CEO at JOJO, Kunal Kumrawat, Head of Brand & Socials at STAGE and Anuja Trivedi, Chief Marketing Officer at Shemaroo Entertainment Limited to answer: Is the next marketing revolution emerging in India’s pockets, where regional OTTs craft campaigns as local and culturally rooted as their content?

Building OTT for price-sensitive, content-loving India

Joe looks at the OTT streaming market in India, exploring: How do you monetise an audience that's simultaneously one of the most price-sensitive in the world yet possesses an almost insatiable appetite for content?

Are microdramas the next OTT wave? 

Anuj Gosalia, Founder & CEO of Terribly Tiny Tales, Shubh Bansal, Co-Founder & CEO, ReelSaga and Manohar Singh Charan, Co-Founder and CFO, ShareChat & Moj share insights into the rise of short-format, high-frequency storytelling on streaming platforms, exploring its impact on creators, viewers, and brands.

Is Audio OTT finding its voice in India? 

Shailesh Sawlani, Country Manager, India - Audible, and Vineet Singh, SVP and Head of Brand Marketing, Communications & Partnerships, Pocket Entertainment unpack the rise of audio OTT in India, where convenience, regional content and screen-free formats are drawing in listeners and brands.

With the festive season just around the corner, the real test begins. This is when platforms and advertisers pull out their biggest ideas. Expect sharper targeting, more personalisation, and campaigns that bring together emotion, technology, and culture in one seamless stream. Stay tuned for our next edition to read all about it! Until then, sit back, stream on, and explore how the future of television is being written in real time.

Download The Pulse Magazine’s OTT & CTV Edition 2025 now