WTDaBuzz market analysis · India · 17 October 2026
India’s media and entertainment growth in 2025 did not follow one uniform commercial model. For an international operator, the useful question is which part of that growth connects to its proposed product and customer.
The FICCI–EY report announcement, published on 24 March 2026, estimates the sector at INR2.78 trillion in 2025, up 9%. It reports digital advertising growth of 26% to INR947 billion and digital subscription revenue growth of 60% to INR163 billion.
Keep the revenue pools separate
Advertising and subscriptions involve different customers and operating decisions. An advertising proposition needs a route to buyers and evidence about the inventory being sold. A subscription proposition needs a clear reason for a consumer to pay and continue paying.
A business planning both should show the assumptions separately before combining them. That makes it possible to see which part of the proposition carries the forecast and what evidence would challenge it.
Do not turn subscriptions into unique people
The announcement distinguishes paid video subscriptions from the households they span. It reports 216 million subscriptions across 143 million households. Those are different units and should remain different when the figures are used in a market-entry presentation.
A platform considering distribution partnerships should define the unit behind its own target as clearly. A registered account, a paying subscription, a household and a person reached can each answer a useful question. Combining them obscures the size and behaviour of the customer group.
Build a specific market-entry hypothesis
An entertainment business can narrow its proposal to a defined language or audience group, an identifiable content offer and a particular distribution route. That creates a testable proposition instead of treating a national industry total as an immediately accessible market.
The pilot should specify the period, the commercial measures to observe and the operational work required to deliver the service. Local content expectations, customer support and the costs of acquiring or preparing material belong in that plan.
The report supplies evidence of substantial expansion in particular revenue categories. A credible international strategy takes the next step: explain which category the company participates in, what it controls and how its own operating evidence will establish whether the proposition works.
Scope: FICCI–EY estimates of India’s 2025 sector performance, released March 2026. Figures are in Indian rupees; this article is not a global market estimate. Business implications are WTDaBuzz analysis. Featured image: illustrative production-monitor photograph, Getty Images / Unsplash+.