Over 80% of Malayalam CTV viewership on JioHotstar comes from non-Malayali audiences: JioStar

New Delhi: JioStar Entertainment has launched its first-ever Connected TV (CTV) Playbook, which unpacks how brands can harness CTV for deeper storytelling and tap into India’s premium households through high-quality entertainment. 

The playbook states that Connected TV consumption on JioHotstar has surged by 85%, with 40% of total watch time now coming from the big screen. Viewers spend over 100 minutes a day on CTV, 1.5X more than mobile, underscoring a clear shift toward immersive, shared viewing experiences.

The report shows that 66% of households have a single connected device in the home, making CTV a shared experience. 

JioHotstar’s co-viewing factor stands at 3.1 times, far above leading UGC platforms, with 70% of viewers living with family and 66% watching together, said the media company.

The report finds that 90% of users belong to high or medium affluence households, 81% are from NCCS AB, and 61% are concentrated in India’s top 8 metros. 

As per the report, 91% of viewers of JioHotstar Specials are subscribers, a number that’s 50% higher than the platform average, proving that long-form storytelling on CTV isn't just being watched, it’s being paid for. 

Language diversity is also shaping viewing behaviour. While Hindi (74%) and English (53%) command the largest share of CTV reach, platforms are seeing regional language content go national, particularly Malayalam, where over 80% of the CTV viewership is driven by non-Malayali audiences. 

Developed in collaboration with global research leader Ipsos, the Playbook blends platform analytics with third-party validation to present an end-to-end view of the CTV opportunity in India. Built on platform analytics and a national study conducted in June 2025, the handbook captures the shift in viewing behaviour as India’s digital homes go CTV first. 

“Connected TV is no longer just a screen, it’s becoming the new centre of gravity in India's digital households. With co-viewing at 3.1X, 90% of audiences being affluent, and an 85% surge in watch time, the scale and quality of engagement on JioHotstar's CTV platform is unmatched. This Playbook is a strategic response to this shift, built to help marketers harness the full-funnel potential of big-screen storytelling. From lean-in attention to measurable business outcomes, CTV offers an unmatched canvas for brands to move beyond impressions to impact. At JioStar, we’re excited to lead the charge in shaping this premium, intent-rich space into a high-performance marketing platform for the future,” said Ajit Varghese, Head of Revenue, Entertainment & International, JioStar. 

“The shift toward CTV within the digital ecosystem is a behavioural shift in how families consume, co-view, and even co-decide. Our research with JioHotstar supports what the data shows: CTV audiences are more premium, and more likely to recall and act on brand messaging delivered in a big-screen environment,” said Jyoti Malladi, Managing Director, Research, Ipsos.