How is India CTV advertising different from CTV in the US or UK?

India CTV differs from US and UK CTV in four structural ways. First, programmatic access: in the US, most major streaming platforms have programmatic pipes. In India, only YouTube CTV and Amazon DSP are fully programmatic — JioHotstar, SonyLIV, and Zee5 are direct-deal only. Second, verification: SSAI is the default delivery method for all major India AVOD platforms, meaning third-party client-side verification (IAS, DoubleVerify) cannot fire. On US CTV, client-side delivery is still common. Third, co-viewing: India CTV co-viewing is 3–4 viewers per device versus the US benchmark of 1.5–2. India CPMs look high until you apply the co-viewing multiplier — effective per-viewer CPMs are competitive.

Fourth, the content driver: US CTV advertising is built around scripted content. India CTV is built around live sports, especially cricket. IPL on JioHotstar is the single defining event of India CTV advertising economics — nothing comparable exists in the US without a major live sports deal. Roku, which dominates US CTV, does not exist in India. The US CTV DSP and measurement infrastructure was built largely around Roku — it maps poorly to India's Samsung/Fire TV/Jio device landscape.