Akshay Chaturvedi: Connected TV Is Transforming India’s Living Rooms into Performance-Driven Commerce Hubs

India’s advertising ecosystem has long operated across disconnected platforms — with television building awareness, digital video driving engagement and search or retail delivering conversions. According to Akshay Chaturvedi, Chief Business Officer at VDO.AI, Connected TV (CTV) is now bridging these silos and reshaping how brands measure impact.

In a recent industry perspective, Chaturvedi argued that marketers are moving beyond isolated metrics toward integrated measurement models that link storytelling directly to business outcomes. With Indian consumers spending several hours daily across multiple media touchpoints, traditional multi-channel strategies often struggled to connect exposure with action.

The Expansion of India’s CTV Ecosystem

India’s Connected TV audience has grown rapidly, with tens of millions of households now accessing streaming content on internet-enabled television sets. Industry projections suggest this base will continue expanding significantly over the next few years, driven by smart TV penetration and affordable broadband.

Chaturvedi noted that CTV combines the immersive environment of television with digital targeting capabilities. Unlike conventional broadcast TV, advertisers can align messaging based on language, geography and household-level data, improving contextual relevance.

Industry benchmarks further indicate strong engagement levels on CTV. In several high-consideration categories, video completion rates are reported at around 90%, reflecting sustained viewer attention compared to many other digital formats.

Turning Awareness into Consideration

While television historically excelled at brand recall, CTV is increasingly influencing mid-funnel engagement. Interactive formats such as QR integrations and remote-enabled features allow viewers to move seamlessly from exposure to exploration.

Chaturvedi referenced campaigns in sectors such as automotive and consumer technology where contextual messaging — including regionalised creatives and utility-driven prompts — helped translate curiosity into dealership visits, online searches and product enquiries.

By embedding practical information within storytelling, brands can reduce friction in the evaluation stage, particularly for high-involvement categories.

A Converged, Measurable Funnel

CTV’s role is expanding beyond upper-funnel awareness. With advancements in attribution and cross-device tracking, marketers can now assess how CTV exposure influences downstream behaviours including website traffic, mobile installs and offline store visits.

Interactive ad formats are also narrowing the gap between inspiration and transaction, enabling households to take immediate action. As personalisation improves at the household level, CTV is becoming central to performance-driven brand strategies rather than operating as a standalone awareness channel.

Chaturvedi emphasised that the next phase of advertising in India will be defined not by reach alone, but by measurable attention that leads to tangible outcomes.

The Living Room as a Commerce Gateway

As streaming adoption accelerates, the living room is evolving into a high-intent digital environment. Rather than competing screens, television is increasingly functioning as a strategic node within a cross-device ecosystem, influencing search behaviour, app downloads and purchase decisions.

For brands, this convergence presents an opportunity to align cinematic storytelling with actionable pathways. In Chaturvedi’s view, CTV is compressing the distance between interest and intent — transforming the largest screen in the home into a performance engine for modern marketers.