CTV 101 — Publisher
You sell CTV inventory. Start here.
If you run a streaming app, OTT platform, FAST channel, or smart-TV inventory, your revenue model in India has changed twice in three years. AVOD-only is hard to scale; SVOD-only loses to free-with-ads; hybrid is winning. These six concepts cover what to get right in your first month of CTV monetisation — revenue mix, yield, and the technical pipes that turn impressions into rupees.
AVOD funds itself with ads and gives you scale. SVOD takes subscriber money but caps audience. Hybrid (Netflix-style ad tier, Hotstar IPL free) captures both. FAST is its own animal — free linear, ad-supported, no subscription. The choice determines your audience, your CPMs, and your operating model.
Direct sales for premium inventory, programmatic for scale, hybrid auction setups to maximise yield. Most India CTV publishers see 30–70% revenue from direct, 30–70% from programmatic — the split depends on inventory premium-ness, sales team size, and SSP setup. This page covers the full mechanics.
Yield optimisation is the difference between Rs 200 and Rs 350 effective CPM on the same inventory. Floor prices, ad pod ordering, header bidding, unified auction, and SSP configuration each move the dial. Most India CTV publishers leave 20–30% revenue on the table by getting yield wrong.
Magnite, PubMatic, FreeWheel, SpringServe, Google Ad Manager — each handles CTV inventory differently. Demand access, ad pod management, SSAI integration, and India sales support vary. Most premium India CTV publishers run two SSPs in parallel; the smaller ones run one.
Header bidding lets multiple SSPs bid for the same impression at once — the publisher takes the highest bid. On CTV it works differently than web: the auction happens server-side, not in the browser. Setting it up correctly can lift CPMs 15–40% on programmatic inventory.
Premium inventory (IPL, primetime, marquee shows) usually goes direct — higher CPMs, guaranteed buyers, slower cycle. Mid-tier and remnant inventory works better programmatically. Most India CTV publishers should aim for 50–70% direct on premium and 100% programmatic on remnant.
Next step
FAST Monetization Model
Model your CTV channel economics — CPMs, fill rates, ad pod structure, and revenue projections — against India-specific assumptions.
Open the model →