iWorld
Marketers hit play as Yahoo and Spotify turn up India’s audio ad game
MUMBAI- The sound of opportunity just got louder for Indian advertisers. CereOne Media, Yahoo DSP’s partner in India, has announced the arrival of the Yahoo DSP and Spotify Ad Exchange (SAX) partnership in the country, a move set to turn programmatic audio advertising into a full-fledged performance channel.
For years, digital audio has been India’s underplayed medium engaging but under-measured. Now, with Spotify’s high-quality audio, video and display inventory available directly through Yahoo’s Demand-Side Platform (DSP), agencies can finally plan, activate, and measure audio campaigns alongside display, video, Connected TV (CTV) and Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) from a single console.
In other words, sound has officially joined the omnichannel conversation.
“Digital audio has become one of the most engaging and high-attention environments for advertisers, but access and measurement have often been limited,” said Yahoo DSP SEA head of commercial Kenneth Koh. “By integrating Spotify into Yahoo DSP, we are helping brands plan, activate and optimise audio with the same sophistication they bring to video and display. It unlocks the full potential of sound as a measurable and scalable performance channel.”
The partnership gives advertisers programmatic access to Spotify’s premium inventory spanning music, podcasts and playlists, all backed by first-party logged-in user data that enables precise targeting. When this is layered with Yahoo’s own first-party data from Search, Mail and its content ecosystem, brands can tap into richer audience insights and deliver more relevant, measurable campaigns across devices and moments.
CereOne Media director Deepak Karnani called it a “big step forward for Indian advertisers.” He added, “Audio is no longer a background medium; it is immersive, measurable and deeply personal. This partnership lets brands access Spotify’s high-quality inventory programmatically with precision and transparency. For India’s fast-evolving digital ecosystem, it opens a new frontier of engagement through sound, storytelling and scale.”
The timing couldn’t be better. India is home to one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing digital audio audiences, with millions tuning in across languages, genres and devices. Music streaming and podcasts have evolved from passive pastimes to powerful touchpoints for connection and influence, a fact brands are now recognising in their media mixes.
With this collaboration, CereOne Media, Yahoo DSP and Spotify are not just tuning into that change, they’re amplifying it. Together, they’re giving marketers the ability to measure emotion, target mood, and quite literally, find their audience’s frequency.
For a market long defined by visuals, the message is clear: in India’s next chapter of digital storytelling, it’s time to be heard.
iWorld
Applause, Story TV team up to push microdrama content
Partnership to create premium short form shows for mobile first viewers
MUMBAI: Applause Entertainment and Story TV are betting on short attention spans with a long-term vision, joining forces to create a slate of premium microdramas for mobile-first audiences.
The partnership brings together Applause’s storytelling pedigree and Story TV’s fast-growing digital reach, with plans to co-produce and distribute bite-sized dramas across genres. As part of the deal, Story TV will also adapt the romantic thriller Hello Mini into a vertical microdrama format, signalling a shift in how stories are being reshaped for smaller screens.
Backed by the Aditya Birla Group, Applause Entertainment has built a reputation for high-quality content with titles like Scam 1992 and Criminal Justice. Story TV, launched in 2025, has quickly scaled up with a library of over 1,000 titles across languages and genres, riding the wave of mobile consumption.
Story TV founder and CEO Saurabh Pandey said, “Phones are now the primary screens for content consumption, and microdramas are evolving into a mainstream format. At Story TV, we are blending storytelling with technology to push this format further.”
He added that the collaboration with Applause Entertainment will help expand the reach of microdramas while introducing a layer of premium storytelling to the space.
Applause Entertainment chief business officer Prasoon Garg said, “At Applause, we have always focused on strong storytelling across formats. As microdramas gain momentum, this partnership allows us to explore the space with a platform that understands both the format and its audience.”
With mobile screens shrinking and content getting sharper, the collaboration hints at a future where storytelling is not just shorter, but smarter, designed to fit neatly into the scroll of everyday life.
