Pre-roll is the most common CTV ad format. It plays before the content a viewer has chosen to watch — before a movie starts, before an episode begins, before a live stream loads. Because the viewer has just made an active choice to watch something, pre-roll reaches an audience at peak intent and attention. On CTV, pre-roll delivers completion rates of 85–95% for non-skippable formats, compared to 60–70% for the same format in a mobile browser.
How pre-roll works on CTV
When a viewer selects content on a CTV platform, the ad server receives a bid request containing device type, content category, user segment data, and available ad slots. The DSP or direct sales system responds with the winning creative. The video plays — typically 15 or 30 seconds — before the content begins. For AVOD platforms, this is the primary monetisation moment: the viewer has chosen to accept ads in exchange for free content.
Pre-roll is delivered via VAST (Video Ad Serving Template), the IAB standard that tells the video player what ad to load, how long to play it, and what tracking pixels to fire. On most CTV platforms, SSAI (server-side ad insertion) stitches the pre-roll into the content stream at the server level, making it immune to client-side ad blockers and ensuring seamless playback.
Skippable vs non-skippable pre-roll
Pre-roll comes in two variants. Non-skippable pre-roll plays to completion — the viewer cannot skip it. This is the dominant format on India's AVOD platforms. JioCinema and Hotstar AVOD tier both use non-skippable pre-roll as their core ad unit. Completion rates for non-skippable pre-roll on CTV typically run 88–95%.
Skippable pre-roll follows the YouTube TrueView model — the viewer can skip after 5 seconds. CPMs are lower because advertisers only pay when the viewer watches past the skip point (or watches to completion). YouTube CTV in India uses TrueView skippable pre-roll as its primary format. Skippable pre-roll CPMs run 30–50% lower than non-skippable equivalents on comparable inventory.
Pre-roll ad lengths on CTV
The standard CTV pre-roll lengths are 15 and 30 seconds. 15-second pre-rolls have become the industry default for most AVOD buying — they are long enough to deliver a complete brand message, short enough to maintain viewer tolerance. 30-second pre-rolls are used for high-impact launches, complex product explanations, and premium placements like IPL live streams.
6-second bumpers also run as pre-roll in some contexts — see the bumper ads article for detail. 60-second pre-rolls exist on some direct-sold premium placements but are rare outside sponsorship deals.
Pre-roll CPMs in India
Pre-roll CPMs in India range widely by platform, content context, and audience segment. General benchmarks as of 2025–26:
- JioCinema AVOD pre-roll: Rs 150–350 (standard), Rs 400–600+ (IPL live)
- Hotstar AVOD pre-roll: Rs 120–300 (standard), Rs 350–500 (Star Sports live)
- YouTube CTV TrueView: Rs 30–120 (non-reserved), Rs 150–300 (reserved/masthead)
- SonyLIV, Zee5: Rs 80–200 (direct deal, less programmatic access)
IPL pre-roll commands a premium of 3–5x standard rates because of the unmatched live audience and the high co-viewing multiplier (3–4 viewers per device).
Buying pre-roll on India CTV platforms
The buying route depends on the platform. JioCinema pre-roll is available only through direct deal with Jio Ads or via a registered agency. There is no open programmatic access to JioCinema inventory. Hotstar offers a mix of direct-sold and limited programmatic access through select DSPs. YouTube CTV pre-roll is fully available via DV360 or Google Ads, making it the most accessible programmatic pre-roll inventory in India.
For direct deals, minimum spends apply — typically Rs 5–10 lakh minimum on JioCinema and Hotstar for standard campaigns, with IPL packages priced significantly higher. YouTube has no minimum spend, making it the only India CTV pre-roll channel accessible to smaller budgets.
Pre-roll creative requirements
India CTV pre-roll standard requirements: MP4 or MOV, H.264 codec, 1920x1080 (16:9), minimum 2 Mbps bitrate, max file size 200MB for direct-upload. For programmatic delivery via VAST, the file is hosted on a CDN and served by URL — file size matters less, but load time does. Always include a click-through URL even on CTV where direct clicking is less common, as some smart TVs support remote-click interactivity.
India-specific pre-roll considerations
Two India-specific factors shape pre-roll planning. First, SSAI on JioCinema and Hotstar means third-party verification tags (IAS, DoubleVerify, MOAT) cannot fire client-side. Viewability and impression verification must come from the platform's own reporting, not from an independent third-party pixel. Second, frequency management is critical on India CTV because the walled garden structure means a viewer on JioCinema and Hotstar has two separate frequency caps — buying both platforms without coordination leads to the same viewer seeing your pre-roll excessively across devices.