YouTube India is making significant strides in the digital entertainment landscape, positioning Connected TV (CTV) as the new cornerstone of prime-time viewing. With a user base exceeding 75 million adults, CTV has rapidly become the platform's fastest-growing segment, prompting a strategic overhaul in how YouTube engages with India's vibrant media and entertainment industry.

During the recent APOS conference held in Bali, Gunjan Soni, the country managing director for YouTube India, unveiled a comprehensive three-part strategy designed to empower media and entertainment partners. This forward-looking approach encompasses three key pillars: optimizing promotional distribution, diversifying revenue streams, and modernizing content formats. Soni emphasized that YouTube aims to seamlessly integrate diverse video formats and entertainment ecosystems onto the largest screen in Indian homes, thereby bridging the gap between authentic internet content and high-quality cinematic experiences.

YouTube's data, corroborated by Comscore, indicates its leading position in reach across CTV screens throughout India. Users frequently transition between short-form videos, extensive long-form content, podcasts, and live broadcasts, with the larger screen increasingly becoming the preferred medium for communal, relaxed viewing experiences. A notable trend is the rise of video podcasts, or vodcasts, which have effectively transformed passive audio listening into engaging visual events, marking them as a native format for CTV consumption.

From a commercial perspective, YouTube witnessed remarkable growth in shopping-related content. Last year alone, over 200 million registered users in India actively sought shopping content on the platform, contributing to a year-over-year increase of more than 250% in shopping watch time. The presence of shopping tags in YouTube Shorts saw a sixfold surge during the same period, with over 40% of eligible Indian creators now participating in the platform's Shopping Affiliate Program. This commercial success is largely attributed to user trust, as 85% of surveyed Indian viewers reportedly value creator product recommendations over traditional advertisements.

Soni highlighted the 'Content-to-Commerce Flywheel' as a powerful mechanism gaining substantial momentum in India. She explained that YouTube's unique strategy capitalizes on existing user preferences and their established trust in creators' endorsements. Furthermore, Soni underscored the broader macroeconomic impact of India's creator economy, illustrating how individual creators are fostering direct-to-consumer businesses and generating regional employment opportunities through their channels. She asserted that India serves as a definitive model for how a digital creator economy can attain substantial institutional scale.

In the realm of sports, particularly cricket, YouTube demonstrated its significant influence. In 2025, cricket-related content garnered an astonishing 190 billion views on the platform. Interestingly, two-thirds of this consumption involved non-live content, such as tactical analyses and behind-the-scenes footage, rather than live match broadcasts. Survey results indicated that 96% of Indian cricket enthusiasts consumed cricket content on either YouTube or YouTube Shorts in the most recent measured month. Soni concluded that YouTube effectively dominates the high-intent sports conversation year-round, extending beyond live events to pre-match anticipation and post-game analysis.

In summary, YouTube India is proactively reshaping the consumption of digital content by prioritizing Connected TV, establishing it as the premier screen in Indian households. Through a strategic framework focusing on distribution, revenue, and content innovation, the platform is not only expanding its reach but also fostering a robust creator economy and transforming how sports and commerce interact with digital media.