India’s Digital Media Crosses ₹1 Lakh Crore, Redefining Advertising and Consumption

India’s media and entertainment industry has entered a structural shift, with digital media becoming its most dominant force. According to the FICCI-EY Report 2026, the segment grew 30.5% in 2025 to cross ₹1 trillion, making it the first in the industry to hit that scale. This is not just growth—it reflects a clear reallocation of consumer attention and advertiser budgets toward digital platforms.

Advertising is driving this transition. Digital ad spend rose 26% year-on-year to ₹947 billion, led by sectors like FMCG, travel, and pharma shifting away from traditional formats. Search and social continue to dominate with a combined 64% share, but the bigger shift is toward commerce-linked advertising. E-commerce and point-of-sale platforms contributed ₹220 billion—23% of total digital ad revenues—signaling the rise of “transactional media,” where ads are directly tied to purchase intent rather than just awareness.

Connected TV (CTV) is emerging as a high-growth channel within this mix. Weekly active connections increased from 30 million to 40 million, pushing ad revenues up 42% to ₹99 billion. The shift toward larger screens, premium inventory, and better targeting is attracting higher ad spends. OTT platforms are benefiting from this tailwind, with ad revenues growing 34%, particularly across sports and entertainment content.

On the consumption side, scale continues to expand, but attention is fragmenting. Indians spent 1.2 trillion hours on mobile devices in 2025, with media and entertainment accounting for 59% of usage. Video remains dominant, reaching 572 million users, while regional content now makes up 56% of production—highlighting deeper penetration into non-metro markets. Social media, with around 500 million users, continues to anchor discovery and engagement, clocking 731 billion hours of usage.

However, not all segments are growing equally. Online news platforms saw a 9% decline in reach, as AI-generated summaries and standalone AI apps begin to bypass traditional publishers. Audio streaming, despite reaching 178 million users, still struggles with monetization, with 92% of users remaining on free tiers.

Subscriptions are growing, but unevenly. Overall digital subscription revenues rose 60%, led by video OTT, which grew 61% to ₹148 billion. India now has 143 million paying households with 216 million subscriptions, driven by multi-platform consumption. Large-scale events continue to drive spikes—IPL 2025 alone reached 652 million online viewers, with peak concurrency crossing 55 million.

Audio subscriptions crossed ₹10 billion, supported by 14 million paying users, but the segment remains under-monetized relative to its scale. Digital news subscriptions continue to lag significantly, generating just ₹5 billion—less than 3% of print ad revenues—reflecting low consumer willingness to pay.

Looking ahead, digital media is expected to grow at a 14% CAGR to reach ₹1.64 trillion by 2028. Growth will be fueled by rising smartphone penetration (670 million users) and rapid CTV adoption, expected to exceed 90 million households. Digital advertising is projected to hit ₹1.39 trillion, with commerce media, programmatic buying, and SME participation driving expansion.

New models are also reshaping the ecosystem. Shoppable TV, creator-led commerce, and micro-content formats are turning content into a transactional layer. Non-media platforms like fintech and e-commerce are increasingly monetizing their user bases through ads and content integrations, blurring traditional industry boundaries.

For brands, this means performance-driven, intent-led marketing will take priority over broad-reach campaigns. For media companies, the challenge is shifting from scale to sustainable monetization, especially in subscriptions. For consumers, the experience is becoming more personalized, interactive, and commerce-driven.

India’s digital media industry has reached scale, but its next phase will depend on how effectively it converts that scale into durable revenue streams.