The CTV ecosystem has two sides and a technology layer connecting them:
Supply side — streaming platforms that own the content and the viewer relationship. In India: JioCinema, Disney+ Hotstar, SonyLIV, Zee5, YouTube, MX Player, Amazon Prime Video. These platforms create the ad inventory — the pre-roll and mid-roll slots in the video stream. Each platform controls its own inventory and decides how it is sold.
Demand side — advertisers who want to reach CTV viewers, and the agencies and trading desks that buy on their behalf. Brands set campaign objectives and budgets; agencies plan the mix and execute the buys; DSPs handle the programmatic trading infrastructure.
Ad technology layer — the infrastructure in between:
- SSP (supply-side platform): The publisher's tool for packaging and selling inventory programmatically. Runs the auction between competing DSPs.
- DSP (demand-side platform): The buyer's tool for bidding on inventory across multiple publishers. DV360 and The Trade Desk are the most used in India.
- Ad server: Delivers the actual ad to the viewer's screen. Google Ad Manager dominates India CTV publisher ad serving.
- SSAI: Server-side ad insertion — the ad is stitched into the video stream at the server before it reaches the device. Used by JioCinema, Hotstar. Reduces buffering and ad blocking.
- Measurement vendors: BARC India, Nielsen, DoubleVerify — provide independent reach, viewability, and audience data.
In India, the key difference from global CTV models is walled garden dominance. JioCinema, YouTube, and Amazon do not fully expose their inventory to open programmatic. Most India CTV buying is either platform-direct (negotiated with the sales team) or through limited programmatic access the platform grants to select DSPs. Open exchange CTV buying — where inventory from many publishers is available in one auction — is less developed in India than in the US.
Full guide
For a complete explanation, read: What is the CTV ecosystem? Publishers, platforms, DSPs, SSPs, and ad servers explained