AI-powered CTVs are redefining content, engagement and monetisation
By Manish Gupta
Your television is no longer just a screen—it's an intuitive companion that knows you. It starts your day with an inspiring quote or a song that lifts your mood, suggests a delicious recipe for your kids in the afternoon, and keeps you updated on the latest football scores in the evening. This is the power of AI-driven connected TVs (CTVs)—reshaping content consumption in India while unlocking unprecedented opportunities for businesses to engage with audiences in deeply personal ways.
With 65% of Indian households moving away from traditional cable television and embracing smart innovations like
Smart TVs
and internet-enabled set-top boxes, the entertainment landscape is undergoing a paradigm shift. Currently, 36% of SVoD (subscription video-on-demand) audiences in urban India use CTV devices to stream content, highlighting the growing preference for convenience, personalization, and high-quality viewing experiences. As this shift accelerates, AI is emerging as the driving force behind this transformation, redefining how viewers engage with content while enabling businesses to maximize monetization.
AI-Driven Personalization: The Core of CTV Growth
AI has turned CTVs into intelligent entertainment hubs that learn continuously from viewers' habits and preferences. AI-driven recommendation engines dynamically curate playlists of shows and movies tailored to every user, based on viewing history, watch-time behaviour, and even emotional responses. This hyper-personalization extends beyond recommendations. AI enables CTVs to adjust user interfaces, curate watchlists, and even suggest interactive elements to enhance engagement. The result? A significant increase in time spent on the platform, and opportunities for brands and advertisers to deliver highly relevant and effective messaging, ultimately driving revenues.
For instance, when a cricket fanatic user is watching a movie, AI ensures they are simultaneously updated with real-time statistics without disrupting the viewing experience. If a cooking show plays in the background, a simple glance or voice command can surface recipes and instantly add ingredients to your shopping cart. Even during a live gaming tournament, AI-driven overlays let you scan and shop for merchandise, place real-time predictions, or interact with players—all without breaking the flow of your experience.
A viewer browsing a fashion show can instantly purchase an outfit displayed on screen, or someone passively watching travel content can receive curated destination deals. This fusion of AI, interactivity, and commerce is redefining engagement—turning CTVs into always-on, revenue-generating ecosystems.
The Democratization of Content and Audience Expansion
AI's ability to analyze consumption patterns is also democratizing content discovery and distribution. Unlike traditional television networks that cater to mass audiences, AI-powered recommendation engines surface niche content that might otherwise go unnoticed. Whether it's regional cinema, documentaries, or niche content, AI ensures that viewers have access to content aligned with their unique interests.
By understanding audience preferences at a granular level, content providers can develop more localized and culturally relevant programming, creating new revenue opportunities in regional and vernacular markets. This shift enables content creators and producers to overcome distribution challenges and tap into a wider, more engaged audience base.
Data Ushering A New Era of Monetization
The vast data generated by CTVs offers businesses deep insights into audience behaviour, unlocking new monetization opportunities. According to Kantar, 63% of consumers find CTV ads more personalized, highlighting AI's role in refining ad strategies and enhancing brand engagement. Moving beyond traditional, one-size-fits-all advertising, AI ensures ads are hyper-relevant and delivered at optimal moments—whether during a natural pause or a peak emotional point—maximizing engagement and conversions. By leveraging AI-driven insights, brands can strategically place ads for higher viewer retention and better ROI, transforming advertising from broad-spectrum messaging into precision-targeted, context-aware marketing that drives substantial revenue growth. Shoppable TV experiences, smart product placements, and voice-enabled purchasing seamlessly blend commerce with content and unlocks new revenue opportunities for brands and marketeers.
By 2030, CTVs are expected to become the largest distributors of content on large screens, powered by AI-driven personalization and
monetization strategies
. AI is not just enhancing the way we consume content—it is fundamentally reshaping the entertainment economy. It is enabling storytelling, engagement, and commerce to converge seamlessly on the connected screen, delivering highly personalized, interactive, and immersive experiences.
For audiences, this means richer content discovery, deeper engagement, and limitless choices. For businesses, this represents an unprecedented opportunity to harness AI's predictive power, driving profitability and shaping the future of entertainment in a smarter, more connected world. Those who invest in AI-driven CTV strategies today will be at the forefront of the next entertainment revolution, capitalizing on the immense potential of AI-powered personalization and revenue generation.
(The author is Senior Vice President & GM – Glance TV. Views are personal.)
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