JioStar Kevin Vaz: TV Surpasses Social Media, UGC Platforms in Video Consumption

According to Kevin Vaz, CEO of JioStar's Entertainment division, television continues to dominate video content consumption in India, outpacing social media and user-generated content. With 190 million screens, TV has an unrivaled scale across its various formats, he stated.

According to Vaz, TV content consumption totaled 46 trillion minutes, surpassing all user-generated and social platforms. "TV has a significant reach. In South India, it has 2.5 times the reach of UGC platforms. Even in megacities such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata, TV penetration remains high," he said.

A recent FICCI-EY report states that YouTube's reach in India grew from 61% of TV reach in 2023 to 63% in 2024. According to the report, 95% of users in Hindi-speaking states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Rajasthan consume content in their native tongue, which contributed significantly to this growth.

However, Vaz emphasized that television, in all of its forms—pay-TV, free TV, and Connected TV (CTV), remains central to content consumption. "The number of television screens is expected to increase from 190 million in 2024 to 214 million in 2026. "That growth is spread across pay, free, and connected TV platforms," he stated.

Viewership is expected to grow even more as investment in premium entertainment content increases. "As the industry invests more in quality content—sports, blockbuster films, big shows—we're seeing a real difference," says Vaz.

He also emphasized that CTV should not be viewed as a rival to traditional television. "CTV is complementary to linear TV rather than competition," he explained, emphasizing JioStar's position as a multi-platform content creator.

"First and foremost, we are content creators who create for the big screen. So, whether it's pay-TV or cable television, the goal is to reach as many people as possible," he explained.

Speaking about the company's free TV strategy, particularly in light of the relaunch of free-to-air Hindi GECs such as Star Utsav and Colors Rishtey on DD Free Dish, Prasar Bharati's free DTH platform, Vaz explained that free TV has a specific purpose.

"We will use DD Free Dish to upgrade customers to pay-TV," he added.

Vaz noted that pay-TV has resumed growth after years of decline due to the changing media and technological landscape. The pay-TV industry has added 1.3 million homes as a result of the ICC Champions Trophy and the Indian Premier League.

"There has been an increase in pay-TV households. But, more importantly, despite all the talk about pay-TV declining, we've had some of the highest ratings," he said.

Not only are sports attracting viewers, but entertainment content is also performing well. The Stree 2 TV premiere drew 41.2 million viewers, making it one of the most watched TV premieres.