Streaming sticks and dongles are HDMI devices that plug into any television with an HDMI port and turn it into a connected TV. For India's 150M+ non-smart TV households, streaming sticks are the primary pathway into CTV. Amazon Fire TV Stick dominates this segment in India, followed by Chromecast and MI TV Stick. Each platform has a different operating system, ad ecosystem, and programmatic accessibility.
India streaming dongle market overview
India has approximately 70–75 million connected TV households in 2025. Of these, an estimated 12–18 million use streaming sticks or external OTT boxes rather than integrated smart TVs. The streaming stick segment is significant because it reaches households that bought older non-smart TVs but want streaming access — typically SEC B/C households in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
Market share estimates for streaming sticks and external boxes in India (2025):
| Device | Est. active units (India) | OS | Primary ad ecosystem |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Fire TV Stick (all models) | 6–9 million | Fire OS (Android fork) | Amazon DSP; open programmatic via SSPs |
| Jio set-top box / JioFiber TV box | 5–8 million | Android (JioTV UI) | Jio/JioHotstar ecosystem |
| Google Chromecast / Chromecast with Google TV | 2–4 million | Google TV / Android TV | Google (DV360); open programmatic |
| MI TV Stick / Xiaomi devices | 1–2 million | Android TV | Open programmatic via Android TV |
| Tata Play Binge box | 4–6 million | Android + DTH layer | Direct via Tata Play |
Amazon Fire TV Stick in India
Amazon Fire TV Stick is India's dominant standalone streaming dongle. Priced at ₹2,499–₹6,499 depending on model (4K, Lite, HD), it is sold heavily on Amazon India and available at offline retail. Key advertising properties:
Device ID: AFAI (Amazon Fire Advertising ID). Resettable by user. Accessible through Amazon DSP and partially through select SSPs that have Fire TV app integrations.
Ad ecosystem: Amazon DSP is the primary programmatic route for Fire TV. Amazon's first-party shopping and Prime data can be applied to Fire TV audience targeting — one of the most differentiated data assets for India CTV targeting. Sponsored content recommendations on the Fire TV home screen (sponsored rows) are available through Amazon Advertising.
Content access: Prime Video is natively prominent; JioHotstar, Zee5, SonyLIV, MX Player all have Fire TV apps. Fire TV is the most app-complete India CTV device in the streaming stick category.
Audience profile: Amazon's India Fire TV user skews urban, SEC A/B, Prime subscriber — a valuable demographic for premium brand advertisers. Prime Video content consumption on Fire TV is the primary viewing mode, followed by JioHotstar (particularly for cricket).
Google Chromecast and Chromecast with Google TV
Chromecast's Indian market presence is smaller than Amazon's but meaningful in tech-savvy urban households. The newer Chromecast with Google TV (operating on Google TV OS, not just a casting device) is functionally similar to an Android TV device:
Device ID: GAID (Google Advertising ID) — the same identifier as Android TV. Accessible through DV360 and all major DSPs that support Android TV.
Ad ecosystem: Full Google programmatic ecosystem — DV360, Google Ads, YouTube TV inventory. The widest programmatic access of any India CTV device category.
Content access: Google TV aggregates apps in a unified content discovery interface. JioHotstar, Netflix, Prime Video, Zee5, and YouTube are all accessible. Google TV's content recommendation layer provides an additional advertising opportunity (promoted content rows).
MI TV Stick and Android TV sticks
Xiaomi's MI TV Stick runs Android TV and provides full access to the Google Play store and Android TV app ecosystem. It is priced aggressively (₹1,999–₹2,499) and targets budget-conscious buyers:
Device ID: GAID — accessible through standard Android TV programmatic channels.
Market position: MI TV Stick users skew younger and more price-sensitive than Fire TV or Chromecast. App coverage is similar to other Android TV devices; content consumption is broadly similar to the Android TV ecosystem.
Jio set-top box and JioFiber TV box
Jio's hardware devices (JioFiber set-top box, standalone JioBox) run Android with JioTV and JioHotstar as the primary content layer. These devices are typically bundled with JioFiber broadband subscriptions:
Device ID: GAID (Android-based). Accessible through Android TV programmatic routes, though Jio's content ecosystem is primarily accessed through JioHotstar's own ad systems.
Strategic significance: Jio set-top box represents a gateway into lower-SEC households that got broadband for the first time through JioFiber. These are households that often do not have smart TVs — the Jio box is their connected TV device. For advertisers targeting new CTV audiences in tier 2/3 cities and newer internet users, Jio set-top box impressions are a distinct segment from premium smart TV audiences.
Advertiser implications of the India dongle landscape
Fire TV requires Amazon DSP for best access. If India CTV reach into Fire TV households is a priority, building Amazon DSP into the plan alongside DV360 or The Trade Desk is necessary. Fire TV inventory is not fully accessible through non-Amazon DSPs.
Android TV devices (Chromecast, MI Stick, Jio box) consolidate well. All run GAID and are accessible through the standard Android TV programmatic channel in DV360 or The Trade Desk. A single Android TV targeting segment reaches most of these devices.
Dongle audiences differ from smart TV audiences. Streaming stick users are generally younger and more tech-forward than smart TV owners in the same income bracket (they actively sought out a solution to upgrade their existing TV). This matters for creative and campaign planning — the dongle audience is more likely to be early adopters and more likely to act on second-screen prompts.
Cross-device identity is fragmented. A household with a Fire TV Stick and a Samsung smart TV has both an AFAI and a TIFA — two non-interoperable device IDs. Cross-device frequency capping across these devices requires household IP matching or a publisher-side unified identity match, neither of which is standard in India CTV campaigns.