India’s rapid economic growth, rising disposable incomes and improving literacy levels are reshaping content consumption patterns and are set to significantly expand the country’s television audience, according to a new report by professors at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIMA).
The report, ‘Future of TV in India’, authored by Viswanath Pingali of the institute’s Economics Area and Ankur Sinha of the Operations and Decision Sciences Area, projects that the television audience in India will grow to nearly 1.03 billion viewers by 2029. The study is supported by the Brij Disa Centre for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (CDSA) at IIMA.
Analysing demographic, economic and digital factors influencing television viewership, the report estimates that the TV audience will expand at an annual rate of about 2.37%. It finds that much of the future growth will come from rural areas and lower income States, as their income levels gradually converge with those of higher income regions.
A key finding of the study is the strong link between rising internet penetration and television audience growth. According to the report, an increase in internet subscribers is associated with a significant rise in TV viewership, indicating that digital connectivity complements rather than replaces television consumption. The authors note that as internet access expands, television and online video platforms are likely to coexist and grow together.
