Published on: May 25, 2026
With decades of experience navigating the high-stakes world of media investments, Navin Lachandani brings in a rare blend of strategic acumen & people-centric leadership. Currently the Managing Partner – Investments at Starcom & Performics, Navin sat down with us for an exclusive interview and a warm conversation about the changing face of Indian television. He is a big believer in using technology to find more time for the “human” part of advertising; rather than seeing AI as a danger, he views it as a tool for efficiency that allows for more human magic.
In this exclusive interview, Navin explores the balance between traditional reach and digital precision, reminding us that no matter how smart our screens get, the heart of the home remains unchanged.
You have worked closely with some of the largest FMCG brands in the country, with CTD households growing rapidly and across, you know, expected to grow 65 million. How are you thinking about the role of linear TV and connected TV working to drive together, you know, for a meaningful reach?
Linear TV and CTV are both here to stay; they simply cannot be looked at in isolation anymore. Linear TV has established a massive, unparalleled reach that remains vital for FMCG brands seeking deep market penetration. However, CTV is now the perfect complement, capturing those urban households that are harder to find on traditional schedules.
Recent reports from various OEMs suggest that CTV is even expanding its footprint into Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns. While linear provides the mass scale, CTV is capturing the growth among younger, urban audiences.
“The mantra is always TV plus CTV; if you choose only one, you are missing a massive audience segment.”
Whenever we plan for large impact properties, we ensure the strategy is “TV plus CTV.”
It is never just one or the other. If you choose to be present on only one platform, you aren’t just narrowing your focus; you are fundamentally missing out on a large, vital set of audiences that have made their home on the other screen. We are moving away from silos and toward a unified screen strategy.
If you have to plan it out on a priority for any FMCG product, how will you prioritise CTV and TV?
For an FMCG brand, both are equally vital, but the priority depends entirely on the nature of the product. If we are talking about a mass brand, Linear TV naturally carries a higher weightage because the goal is broad penetration across the widest possible audience. However, if it is a digital-first brand or a very premium product, the strategy flips; in those cases, CTV takes precedence. In the FMCG sector, the objective is always about reaching the right set of audiences at the right time. We don’t look at it as a competition between screens. Instead, we look at the mixture of both and focus on how to optimize that blend in the right way to ensure the brand’s message lands where it matters most.
You’ve always spoken about the importance of rigour and fairness in buying. As newer formats like CTV scale up, how do you ensure those principles remain intact across both traditional and digital video environments?
Transparency and accountability are non-negotiable from a buying perspective, regardless of whether we are looking at Linear TV or CTV. Linear TV is a well-established and organized sector; we have BARC reporting numbers as a consistent third-party standard. CTV, on the other hand, is currently more fragmented; it relies on a mix of panel placements and various third-party data points that we have to manually gather and reconcile.
The good news is that we are seeing a shift toward more rigour. BARC is currently working on a metric that will take CTV viewership into account. This is a significant development because it will provide the industry with a standardized way to look at viewership data across the board.
“We are moving toward a unified measurement where pricing is fair and comparable across all OEMs and OTT platforms.”
Currently, pricing varies from platform to platform because each one reports its own numbers. By moving toward this “linear” or comparable way of measuring, we can put everything together. This ensures that the pricing remains fair and transparent, whether you are dealing with an OEM or an OTT platform on CTV.
What are your thoughts on cross-platform measurement?
Every plan we build now is viewed through the lens of incremental reach; we are constantly looking at how to bridge the gap from TV to CTV or vice versa. It depends heavily on the specific product we are targeting; for instance, we are seeing many E-commerce players entering this space. CTV has become a very important part of the mix due to the lack of clutter in the environment; it offers a cleaner experience for the viewer. We are also seeing the rise of interactive elements like QR codes where a viewer can scan the screen to trigger an action.
In the past, some brands felt CTV didn’t fit their profile. An ice cream brand, for example, might have thought it didn’t make sense for them; now, however, those same brands are using CTV to build affluency among younger and urban audiences.
“Cross-measurement is critical because it validates the incrementality of the audience and proves we are actually growing the base.”
This is why cross-platform measurement is so critical; it allows us to prove the incrementality of the audience and accurately measure the expansion of our total base. We are no longer just looking at screens in silos; we are looking at how one platform adds a new layer of viewers that the other might have missed.
As CTV ad revenues scale, how are you approaching cross-platform measurement to give clients clear visibility on their combined ROI?
Every media plan we build now is viewed through a unified lens; it is about treating the screen as a singular audio-visual medium rather than separating
Linear TV and CTV into silos. Our goal is to find incremental reach; we look at how one platform adds to the other depending on the specific product. In the past, a mass-market ice cream brand might have thought CTV wasn’t for them; today, however, they are using it to build affluence among younger, urban audiences that are increasingly hard to find on traditional schedules.
To provide clear visibility on ROI, we are moving beyond simple platform-reported data and deploying independent trackers. We work with tech partners who provide market-specific time stamps; this is crucial for building trust with clients who want to know exactly when and where their ads are aired.
“We are moving toward a singular audio-visual strategy where third-party trackers and time stamps build the trust that platform data alone cannot.”
While high-impact properties like the IPL remain more restrictive regarding third-party intervention, we are successfully scaling this level of rigour across regular BAU (Business As Usual) campaigns. By utilizing these data partners, we can ensure that every campaign is evaluated with the same level of transparency and accountability, regardless of which screen the content is playing on.
CTV offers sharper targeting through data signals like ACR, while linear TV continues to deliver scale and impact, and cultural impact. How do you balance between precision and mass storytelling, playing out with both the mediums?
It comes down to the specific objectives of the brand. In the case of linear TV, where we are reaching out to a mass audience, scale is the priority. However, for brands focused on specific markets or urban centres, CTV becomes much more relevant.
Take the BFSI category, for example. While they could use both mediums, they often want to target specialized products like premium credit cards to very specific audiences in the top 10 metros. In that scenario, CTV becomes the natural starting point for the campaign because it reaches affluent, relevant households first.
“For specific urban targets, CTV precision is so effective that we can scale a campaign without using linear TV at all.”
The targeting is so precise and straightforward that it simplifies the entire process. By starting with CTV, we can scale a campaign efficiently for a niche audience; in some cases, we might even choose to bypass linear TV entirely and focus the investment where it is most impactful.
Do clients question the premium pricing of CTV, given the current measurement challenges?
Currently, premium pricing is primarily driven by sports; for regular behavioral campaigns, the pricing has significantly stabilized. Through programmatic buying, we have reached a level that is very acceptable to our clients. While niche English content remains expensive, it represents a very small fraction of the overall media plan.
If my average CPM is 10 rupees, adding that premium layer might only bring it to 10.1; in the grand scheme of a campaign, that difference is negligible. We optimize the plan so that Linear TV handles the mass reach while CTV captures the affluent audiences with surgical precision. When you put them together, the optimization makes the pricing make sense.
With the growth of retail media, do you see CTV evolving into a direct commerce platform, or will it remain primarily a brand-building medium even with the integration of AI?
It will always be a mix of both, but I don’t believe it will ever skew purely toward commerce. While we are seeing a shift where urban youth and investments are moving rapidly toward CTV for brand building, the “commerce effect” happens primarily because of the second screen in your hand. Television is fundamentally an experience; people watch it to relax and enjoy content with less clutter. For CTV to become a direct commerce engine, it would require a level of interactivity that currently feels like a distraction. Nobody wants to move away from their favorite show to conduct a transaction on their TV. Even with the advent of AI and gesture-based commands, the device itself dictates the behavior. You might use a voice command to open an app, but you are unlikely to say, “Please buy this on Amazon.“
“People watch TV for the experience; they will use their phone as the heartbeat for research and purchase, not the television screen itself.”
Buying requires research and a specific intent that the television environment doesn’t naturally support. The smartphone remains the “heartbeat” of the transaction; it is the device where the research and final purchase actually happen. AI will certainly make our TVs smarter and more interactive, but it won’t change the fact that television is a lean-back medium. We will see a balance, but the final output of commerce will continue to live on the screens we hold, while the TV screen builds the brand.
With 200 plus fast channels now part of the ecosystem, does this feel like a natural bridge between traditional TV and digital streaming?
I see FAST channels as a specific way to target audiences that are primarily urban and young; these are viewers who are now found almost exclusively on CTV. These channels act as enablers for advertisers because they provide a streamlined path to place products exactly where the audience is already looking.
If you had to sum it up, what does true TV plus CTV convergence look like in India in the next few years? True TV plus CTV convergence look like in India in the next few years?
True convergence is ultimately about the right optimization. Both Linear and CTVare here to stay; they are both equally important for every client as our measurement capabilities grow stronger. In the Indian context, this is especially unique because we remain primarily a single-TV household market. Because families still gather around one main screen, the “convergence” isn’t just about devices, but about how we reach them on that single screen.
The way forward is to move away from silos and toward a unified investment strategy. You need to recommend the right mix of investment on TV and CTV to ensure no audience is left behind.
“India largely remains a single-TV household market specially in Tier2 & 3 with drastic changes seen in Tier1; the future of convergence lies in the right optimization of that one shared screen.”
As we look at the next few years, the importance of both mediums will only increase. We are moving toward a future where we don’t just buy airtime; we buy the most optimized path to the consumer, utilizing every tool that the unified screen provides.
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