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Digital media has officially overtaken television in India’s media market. In 2025, digital pulled in roughly ₹1.1 lakh crore in revenue, while TV stood at around ₹61,700 crore. And when you zoom out, the entire media and entertainment industry has already hit ₹2.78 lakh crore and is expected to touch ₹3.3 lakh crore by 2028. So this is the centre of gravity moving.
People are on their phones all the time, so of course digital wins. But that’s only half the story. The real shift is not where people spend time. It’s where money is moving. In 2025 alone, digital advertising grew 26% to nearly ₹94,700 crore and now accounts for close to two-thirds of all ad spending in India. Brands are not just chasing eyeballs anymore. They are chasing measurable outcomes. Clicks, conversions, purchases. TV can give you reach. Digital tells you what actually worked.
For years, India’s media story ran on cheap data and free content. That model is slowly cracking. Digital subscription revenues jumped 60% to ₹16,300 crore in 2025, with paid video subscriptions crossing 216 million. The trigger is pretty clear. Premium cricket, big-ticket films, and bundled OTT plans are pushing users to pay. Not for everything, but for things that feel worth it.
Television isn’t collapsing. It’s adapting.
India still has over 56 million active DTH subscribers and hundreds of TV channels. For a large part of the country, especially beyond metros, TV is still the default screen. Family viewing, daily soaps, news, and live sports still hold strong. What’s really happening is that India isn’t replacing one medium with another. It’s stacking them.
People watch reels on their phone, switch to TV for a cricket match, and then go back to YouTube before sleeping. It’s messy, but it works.
The bigger driver behind all of this is access. India crossed roughly 950 million internet users by 2025, with penetration nearing 70%. Mobile internet speeds are improving, touching over 130 Mbps on average. Streaming is smoother, payments are easier, and content is always within reach. Once the friction disappears, behaviour changes fast. That’s exactly what we’re seeing.
At the same time, new formats are quietly growing. Live events jumped 44% in 2025, becoming one of the fastest-growing segments. Concerts, festivals, even large weddings are turning into monetisable experiences. Out-of-home advertising is also evolving, with digital screens taking a bigger share. So the real shift is not just digital versus TV. It’s passive consumption versus interactive, measurable, and immersive experiences.
And 2026 is only pushing this further. India’s ad market is expected to cross ₹2 lakh crore, with digital alone accounting for over 68% of that. Even TV’s future growth is coming from becoming more like digital, through connected TVs and targeted advertising. In a way, the old guard is borrowing from the new playbook to stay relevant.
So what does all of this really mean?
India’s media market isn’t going “digital-only.” It’s becoming multi-screen, multi-format, and far more outcome-driven. Digital is where the fastest growth and smartest money are flowing. TV still holds scale and habit. And newer formats like live events are turning attention into experiences.
The real winner here is not a platform. It’s whoever understands attention better. Because in today’s India, attention doesn’t sit in one place anymore. It jumps. And the money is simply following it.
