A floor price is the minimum CPM a publisher will accept for an impression. In CTV, floors are set significantly higher than display or mobile because inventory is genuinely scarce, viewability is near-100%, and content environments command premium rates. For buyers on the open exchange, floors determine whether your bid enters the auction at all — and for India buyers, understanding how floors work is essential to both winning inventory and managing campaign costs.
Hard floors vs soft floors
There are two types of floor in programmatic CTV:
Hard floor: An absolute minimum. Any bid below this price is rejected entirely — the impression goes unsold rather than clearing below the hard floor. Publishers use hard floors to protect brand value and prevent race-to-bottom dynamics on premium inventory.
Soft floor (reserve price): A price level that the auction tries to push bids toward. If the winning bid is above the soft floor but below the hard floor — this configuration doesn't quite make sense, so in practice: a soft floor acts as a nudge. In a first-price auction, a bid above the soft floor pays its bid price. A bid between the soft floor and hard floor (in second-price mechanics) may be reduced to the soft floor rather than the second-highest bid. The effect is a higher clearing price even when the winning bid is well above the floor.
Since most CTV programmatic has moved to first-price auctions, the distinction between hard and soft floors has become less operationally significant — the winning bid pays what it bids, and the floor simply determines eligibility to participate.
Why CTV floors are higher than other channels
CTV floors are typically 3–5× higher than equivalent display CPMs on the same publisher. Four reasons:
- Viewability: CTV impressions count only when the TV is on and the ad plays on the full screen. There is no below-the-fold or partially-visible equivalent. Publishers price this certainty into floors.
- Non-skippability: Premium CTV ad pods are non-skippable. The viewer sits through the ad. Advertisers pay for this attention, and publishers know it.
- Inventory scarcity: A 30-minute show has fixed ad pod slots. Unlike a news feed with infinite scroll, CTV inventory is capped at break structure. Scarcity justifies higher floors.
- Content premium: Long-form, professionally produced content commands higher rates than user-generated or short-form. Live sports content sits at the highest tier.
Floor types by deal structure
| Deal Type | Floor Mechanism | Buyer Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Open Exchange (OX) | Publisher-set hard floor; SSP may apply additional dynamic floor | Highest floors; least inventory access |
| Private Marketplace (PMP) | Deal-level floor negotiated between publisher and buyer | Floors known in advance; predictable costs |
| Preferred Deal | Fixed CPM agreed bilaterally; floor IS the price | No auction; price certainty |
| Programmatic Guaranteed (PG) | Fixed CPM; guaranteed delivery | Highest CPM; no floor uncertainty |
On the open exchange, publishers often set different floors by day part, content genre, and device type. Primetime slots on major OTT platforms can carry floors that are 2–3× daytime rates on the same platform.
India CTV floor benchmarks
Floor prices in India reflect the market's premium-but-emerging nature. These are approximate ranges; actual floors vary by publisher, content type, and deal structure:
| Inventory Type | Estimated Floor (CPM) |
|---|---|
| Open exchange, standard content | ₹150–₹250 |
| Open exchange, primetime premium OTT | ₹300–₹500 |
| PMP, branded content / sports | ₹400–₹700 |
| Live sports (IPL, cricket) | ₹600–₹1,200+ |
| Smart TV home screen / launch ads | CPT or fixed; not floor-based |
These floors are substantially lower than equivalent US or UK CTV inventory (US: $15–30 CPM open exchange). The gap reflects lower advertiser competition for CTV inventory in India and lower average consumer spending levels — but the premium multiple over India digital display is similar.
Buyer strategy around floor prices
For buyers navigating India CTV floor prices:
Don't bid at the floor: On first-price auctions, bidding at the floor price wins inventory when there is no competition — but signals to the SSP's dynamic floor algorithm that your maximum willingness-to-pay is at the floor. Bid 15–25% above the floor on inventory you want to win reliably.
Use PMPs to lock in floors: If you are running regular spend on a publisher, negotiate a PMP deal with a known floor. This removes uncertainty about whether your open exchange bids will clear, and often gets you access to better inventory than the open exchange carries.
Watch for dynamic floors: Some SSPs (including Magnite and PubMatic) apply dynamic floor algorithms that raise floors based on historical bid patterns. If your bids are consistently 3× the floor, the algorithm will raise the floor toward your typical bid. Introduce bid variation to avoid training the algorithm against you.
Understand floor exceptions: Publishers sometimes drop floors at end-of-day or for unsold inventory — particularly for non-primetime slots. Some DSPs expose floor override settings for these scenarios. DV360 and The Trade Desk both have floor-aware bidding modes.