What is co-viewing in CTV and why does it matter for advertisers?

Co-viewing means multiple people watching the same connected TV device simultaneously. A smart TV in an Indian family home is typically watched together — multiple family members watching the same show, movie, or live sports event at the same time. In CTV advertising, an ad impression is served and counted once per device (based on the TV's device ID), but that single impression is seen by everyone in the room. Co-viewing is why device-level reach metrics systematically undercount the actual number of people exposed to a CTV campaign. India's average co-viewing rate is 2.0–2.5x for general content, rising to 3.5–5.0x for live cricket, making it one of the highest co-viewing markets globally.

Apply co-viewing multipliers to convert DSP-reported device reach into estimated viewer reach. The multiplier varies by content: for general entertainment and drama, multiply device reach by 2.0–2.5; for live news, multiply by 2.5–3.5; for live IPL cricket, multiply by 3.5–5.0. A campaign that achieves 5 million unique device reach during IPL live coverage translates to approximately 17.5–25 million estimated viewer exposures. Always report both numbers separately — device reach (verified, from DSP) and viewer reach (estimated, from multiplier) — and state the basis for the multiplier used. Do not blend publisher-reported viewer reach numbers (which already include a co-viewing multiplier) with raw DSP device reach numbers without normalisation.

Yes — co-viewing creates a targeting accuracy limitation in CTV. When a DSP targets a device ID that has been profiled as "Male, 25–34, Mumbai," the targeting is correct at the device level — but the impression is served to everyone watching that TV. The male 25–34 viewer gets the ad, but so do his partner, parents, and siblings. In India's joint family household structure, a device might have 3–5 regular viewers with significantly different demographic profiles. This "audience spillover" means that even precise demographic targeting delivers meaningful impressions to people outside the target audience. For category-wide awareness campaigns (FMCG, insurance, telecom) this is often a positive — the message reaches the whole household. For narrow-audience performance campaigns, it reduces efficiency.