Ad fatigue is making India’s OTT viewing miserable
Indian OTT platforms face viewer fatigue due to repetitive and lengthy ad breaks. Experts emphasize the need for improved ad experiences and transparency to regain user trust and prevent subscription cancellations amid growing customer frustration.
Advertising on video-streaming services in India is increasingly resulting in viewer fatigue as these platforms try to supplement plateauing paid subscription revenue with ad money. Users are bombarded with the same long and unskippable ads, often with glitches, that make the viewing experience tedious and disrupt the flow of the show.
Experts said if advertising is to effectively make a mark and grab mindshare, the poor ad experiences must be dealt with urgently. However, rectifying the matter will be challenging.
For one, OTTs use CPM, or cost per mille (cost per thousand) as the basis of advertising. This is a pricing model where the advertiser pays for every 1,000 impressions, or the number of times the ad is shown. The rates for digital/OTT are very low in India because advertisers don't see a wide enough audience base. Plus, competing online platforms like social media and e-commerce are considered more viable for advertisers.
“One of the biggest challenges OTT platforms in India face with advertisements is the extremely low CPM. This happens due to an oversupply of ad inventory and a relatively smaller number of advertisers," said Ujjwal Mahajan, co-founder of Chaupal, a platform specializing in Punjabi, Haryanvi and Bhojpuri.
As a result, ad rates for OTTs in India are more than 90% lower than for those in regions like North America. This disparity creates a major issue for OTT platforms—they don’t want to sell ads at such low rates, which limits the number of advertisers who can meet their requirements. Consequently, viewers end up seeing the same ads repeatedly, leading to ad fatigue and a poorer viewing experience, Mahajan said.
Never-ending ad marathon
Rajat Agrawal, chief operating officer and director of Ultra Media & Entertainment Group, agreed OTT ads in India are lengthy—of two to three minutes each—and repetitive. The ads often don't match user interests, making the viewing experience feel like a never-ending ad marathon. With limited opt-out options and intrusive ad formats, frustration is building up among subscribers.
“The fragmented OTT landscape, with multiple platforms and ad models, is definitely adding to the confusion. Many services use AVoD (advertising-based video-on-demand) models to draw in crowds but often aren't transparent about their ad policies and sometimes even premium content gets interrupted with ads," Agrawal added.
AVoD is a streaming business model that allows users to access video content for free if they watch advertisements.
Experts said such issues can be resolved only when the advertising revenue or CPM rates increase enough to attract a sufficient number of publishers and advertisers to fill ad slots more effectively and at shorter intervals. The other way is for platforms to take up direct selling, as it is done in television, but that requires establishing sales teams. Until that happens, this challenge is likely to persist in the Indian market.
Companies with TV arms such as Jio, Zee and Sony usually bundle TV and OTT deals—there isn't much direct buying and selling for OTT alone. Netflix doesn't have ads.
Only Amazon miniTV, which is entirely free, does ad deals, benefitting from the broader Amazon ecosystem. Amazon has been clear in saying the idea is to target consumers across all its verticals—shopping, video and tech. On Prime Video, the duration of ad breaks is shorter, and the ads are better or newer than those on other local platforms.
Priority for revenue
“Most Indian users still choose ad-supported plans, so platforms prioritize revenue over refining the ad experience. The tech stack is still evolving, too. Inconsistent device quality, patchy internet connectivity, and immature ad-delivery systems make frequency capping and personalisation harder to implement," said Priyank Dattani, associate creative director at digital agency White Rivers Media. “Add to this the slow pace of enforcing consumer guidelines and user frustrations continue to slip through the cracks."
Rajesh Sethi, partner and leader—media, entertainment and sports at PwC India, pointed out another challenge: how advertisements still show up even with premium subscriptions. This usually happens during live events, catch‑up TV, or certain non‑fiction content, often without a clear notice.
“The reason lies in licensing deals that give content owners control over ad rights and the high cost of content like sports, which platforms try to recover through advertising. Confusing subscription tiers add to the problem, blurring the difference between ad‑free and limited‑ad plans. For many viewers, this feels like double‑dipping and breaks the promise of a truly ad‑free experience," Sethi said.
A few OTT platforms in India are losing user trust as frustrations rise over the hidden fees, tough cancellations, repetitive ads and streaming glitches. These problems are driving people to drop subscriptions and look for better options.
To fix this issue, platforms need to put viewers first by using smarter ad tools that keep commercials short, skippable and relevant, while making subscription policies clear and easy to follow, he said.
“Offering truly ad‑free premium tiers, setting fair limits on ad loads, and aggregating content can help them rebuild subscriber confidence. The real strategy lies in balancing the revenue with a smooth, transparent viewing experience that keeps the viewer engaged," Sethi said.
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