Addressable TV advertising serves different ads to different households watching the same programme at the same time. Two neighbours watching the same IPL match can see different pre-roll ads — one sees a home loan ad targeted to high-income households, the other sees a consumer electronics ad targeted to recent online shoppers. The ad break is identical in duration; only the creative differs per household. This is addressable TV: the application of digital audience targeting logic to the television screen.
How addressable TV works technically
On CTV (streaming apps on smart TVs), addressable advertising is the default — every impression is a separate stream request, and the ad server can serve a different creative to each device based on targeting parameters. This is what makes CTV programmatically valuable. The 'addressability' is built into the infrastructure. On IPTV (broadband-delivered linear TV, such as Jio Fiber or Airtel IPTV), addressable ads are served at the set-top box level — the IPTV head-end replaces the broadcast ad with a targeted ad at the household level. On cable and DTH linear TV, addressable TV is not technically feasible at scale in India today.
Data sources for addressable targeting in India
The quality of addressable TV targeting depends on the data available to identify households. On CTV in India, the primary targeting data sources are: platform first-party data (viewing history, registration data — most reliable), IP-based household inference (geography, connection type, estimated income band), telecom data via IPTV operators (Jio Fiber, Airtel Broadband — subscriber data tied to the connection), and first-party advertiser data matched via identity graph (CRM email lists matched to household IPs).
Addressable TV on Jio Fiber
Jio Fiber IPTV is the most developed addressable linear TV platform in India. Reliance Jio has subscriber-level data across its broadband and mobile network. Addressable ad insertion on Jio Fiber IPTV allows advertisers to target Jio subscribers by geography (pin code level), household income inference, and Jio service usage patterns. This is the closest India comes to addressable linear TV at scale. Buying route: direct deal through Jio Ads. CPMs for addressable Jio Fiber inventory: Rs 200–450 depending on targeting depth.
Addressable TV on Samsung smart TVs (ACR)
Samsung Ads uses ACR (Automatic Content Recognition) to identify what content a Samsung TV household is watching — including linear TV from a set-top box. This creates a household-level linear TV viewing profile that advertisers can target against on Samsung's own ad inventory. This is not dynamic ad insertion into linear TV — it is CTV advertising served to households identified by their linear viewing behaviour. The result is similar to addressable TV but achieved through a different mechanism.
India addressable TV: honest assessment
True addressable TV at scale — replacing linear broadcast ads with targeted ads at household level across all TV households — does not exist in India today. CTV (streaming on smart TVs) is fully addressable by nature and is where the market focus is. IPTV addressability through Jio Fiber and Airtel covers a meaningful but not dominant share of TV households. Cable and DTH, which still reach the majority of Indian TV homes, are not addressable. Advertisers seeking addressable TV reach in India should focus on CTV (JioHotstar, YouTube CTV, Samsung Ads) and Jio Fiber IPTV as the practical options.
CPM benchmarks and buying
Addressable CTV in India (targeted streaming): Rs 150–400 CPM depending on platform and data depth. Jio Fiber IPTV addressable: Rs 200–450 CPM. Samsung Ads ACR-targeted: Rs 200–500 CPM. All buys are direct deal. No unified addressable TV buying platform exists in India — each platform is a separate negotiation.