Co-viewing on CTV is not measured through ad tech. No pixel, VAST tracking event, or DSP log can detect how many people are physically in the room watching a screen. India CTV co-viewing is estimated through three indirect methods: publisher survey research (asking users "how many people usually watch with you?"), ACR panel data from smart TV manufacturers, and BARC peoplemeter data used as a proxy benchmark from linear TV.
The resulting co-viewing multipliers are publisher-provided estimates, not independently audited by any third party in India as of 2026. JioHotstar has published an average co-viewing figure of 2.4× and a peak of 3.5–4.5× during IPL. These numbers come from their own audience research — treat them as directionally correct rather than certified.
What co-viewing multipliers should I use in planning?
- IPL / live cricket: 3.5–4.5×
- Hindi GEC (drama, reality TV): 2.5–3.5×
- Bollywood films: 2.0–3.0×
- News / current affairs: 1.5–2.5×
- Original series: 1.5–2.0×
- Overall India CTV average: 2.3–2.8×
Apply the multiplier to raw impression counts to get person-level reach. A campaign delivering 10M impressions on Hindi GEC content at a 3× multiplier has reached approximately 30M person-exposures — a very different story than the impression count alone suggests.
How does co-viewing affect frequency capping?
A DSP frequency cap is set at the device (account) level. If a cap of 3 per device is set, and 3 people co-view those 3 impressions, the actual per-person frequency is 3 — matching the cap. But if 4 people are co-viewing and each impression is counted once, all 4 people have seen 3 impressions each. Your device-level cap understates per-person frequency in high-co-viewing households.
For high-co-viewing content (IPL, Hindi GEC, South Indian GEC), reduce device-level frequency caps to account for co-viewers. Divide your target per-person frequency by the estimated co-viewing multiplier to set the device cap.