Run-through
Indian audiences are significantly utilizing different screens for material usage as the market adapts. Standard pay-TV is dealing with competitors from streaming services and linked tv choices. New app-based shipment for direct channels has actually been presented by numerous standard suppliers. Direct tv preserves its significance, specifically as a shared watching medium for households. Live sports occasions like TATA IPL show the combining of standard and digital watching experiences.
Indian audiences are progressively utilizing numerous screens for material intake
Mumbai: Television, streaming, mobile and linked television are significantly assembling instead of changing one another as Indian audiences move in between screens, FICCI Media & & Entertainment Committee chairman and CEO home entertainment at JioStar, Kevin Vaz stated on Tuesday.
Vaz’s remarks come as conventional television suppliers turn to app-based shipment of direct channels to adjust to altering seeing routines. Meal TV-owned Vzy has actually released an app using more than 200 live television channels together with 29+ OTT platforms, while Tata Play, Sun Direct and GTPL Hathway are checking comparable services.
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Direct television transfer to linked screens
“Linear television streaming is a fine example of this development, combining the scale and familiarity of tv with the versatility of streaming,” Vaz stated in his inaugural address at FICCI FRAMES 2026.
He stated the chance was not to pick in between various screens however to enable customers to move flawlessly in between them while providing media business much better methods to comprehend and serve audiences.
“The chance is not to pick in between screens, however to provide audiences the liberty to move perfectly throughout screens, while offering the market much better methods to comprehend and serve those audiences,” he stated.
The shift comes as standard pay-TV deals with growing pressure from streaming and linked tv. Direct pay-TV lost around 11 million memberships in 2025, while linked television got roughly 10 million, according to FICCI-EY information pointed out by The Economic Times. Linked television now reaches an approximated 62-65 million homes and 207 million audiences, according to WPP Media, The Trade Desk and Ormax Media.
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For suppliers, app-based shipment can minimize reliance on set-top boxes and associated customer-service facilities while permitting live tv and OTT material to be provided through a single user interface.
The big screen stays pertinent
Vaz stated the increase of linked television did not imply completion of direct tv, arguing that the big screen continues to have a benefit as a shared watching experience.
“Linear tv stays deeply ingrained in Indian homes even as Connected television and digital intake speed up quickly. The story of the big screen is far from over,” he stated.
He stated linked television integrates the scale and “lean-back experience” of tv with digital abilities such as search, suggestions, personalisation, addressability and measurement.
Vaz likewise indicated live sports as an example of this merging, mentioning TATA IPL 2026, which he stated reached more than 1.2 billion audiences throughout tv and streaming.
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