Measurement – The big challenge with Connected TV

In 2020, India emerged as the fastest-growing Connected TV market in the world. In 2022, CTV increased to 10 million in India and will reach 45 million by 2025, predicted the FICCI-EY report. More and more audiences are transitioning from pure linear audiences towards connected TV consumers. As a result, the medium is attracting all kinds of advertisers.

According to a GroupM Finecast and Kantar report titled ‘The Changing Landscape of Indian Television’, TV advertising will grow by 11.8% CAGR between 2022-2027 in India versus global and APAC growth of 1.1% and 3.7%, respectively.

However, measurement is a big challenge when it comes to the CTV space said MA Parthasarthy, Chief Strategy Officer-South Asia, GroupM; Bharath Kumar Mohan, CEO, Sensera Technologies; Vignesh Narayanan, Head of Business, Airtel Ads; Anjali Krishnan, Head of Media, Mondelez and Amit Kumar Yadav, Country Manager South Asia, Pubmatic.

The panel was speaking at the GroupM Finecast event in Mumbai called ‘Connected TV  and beyond’.

The panel said that while connected TV will continue to grow, advertisers are still in the dark about the measurement in the space.

“There is no one mode of measurement when it comes to CTV. That’s a fundamental challenge we have with so much media consumed in so many different ways and so many devices, we need to see how we can bring in a unified measuring system across all mediums,” said Narayan of Airtel Ads.

Yadav of Pubmatic added that they are working along with partners like OEMs to have the best measurement. “The best option we have is to measure the glass itself. The next best place is the set-up box. We started looking at measurement with two goals; we want perfect measurement and work with OEMs and other partners to do so. From a technology perspective, we can measure linear, OTT apps, technically we know how to measure what is being watched. If there are certain ads that are being played inside OTTs, they can be measured. Airtel, JIO, and Tata Sky are all bullish on smart boxes which means you will get viewership patterns for both linear as well as OTT,” he explained.

At a time when people are still debating the different measuring methods, on digital, the industry has to figure out a way to measure CTV.

Giving an advertiser’s perspective on the situation, Krishnan of Mondelez said, they are still experimenting with Connected TV. “From a Mondelez perspective, yes we are always looking at ways to connect with the consumer. However,  there are still very low numbers on Connected TV and we are using it experimentally across our brands particularly, for premium brands and brands that are targeted at kids,” she said.

According to Narayanan, CTV is still fragmented. “There are 19 million households that we access. On one side, we have advertisers who are looking at OTT and CTV but it is absolutely fragmented. There are so many CTV players now, but it is all fragmented. We don’t have the right tools to make it addressable. Broadcasters, media owners and brands have to come together to make the magic happen,” he said.

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