iWorld
OTT streaming services are most popular entertainment than traditional TV: Magnite Asia MD Gavin Buxton
Mumbai: Creating a great ad experience and monetising all ad formats is the biggest challenge for media owners and brands today. Major global streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney+ are planning to roll out exclusive advertising solutions in 2023. With this, in-the-right-place-at-the-right-time, Magnite Asia MD Gavin Buxton stepped in to provide his input on strengthening such ad solutions for media owners and brands.
By joining Magnite Asia in August 2021, Gavin and his firm are working with over 60 OTT clients looking to activate AVOD (advertising-based video-on-demand).
Named as ‘one of the top people to look out for’ by the Digerati Asia Pacific in 2018, Gavin currently leads the growth of Magnite in the APAC region. His working knowledge stretches across television, digital, search, programmatic, mobile, content marketing, and social media.
Gavin brings with him over 20 years of global experience in digital advertising. Previously, he held leadership positions at tech and publishing companies such as Microsoft, Turner Broadcasting System, and LinkedIn, spending the last ten years in Asia building businesses.
He is an active participant within the advertising industry with multiple thought leadership publications, speaker slots, and contributions to industry bodies, including past board member of The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Southeast Asia and India (IAB SG), and participation in several committees.
Magnite, an independent omnichannel sell-side advertising platform is helping publishers use their technology to monetise their content across all screens and formats—including desktop, mobile, audio, and connected TV (CTV).
This is a one-of-its-kind platform that is built specifically to handle the complexities of over-the-top (OTT) video supply with real-time reporting and performance insights, automated ad pod functionality to manage frequency capping, competitive separation, and audio level detection to enhance the viewer experience.
In an interaction with Indiantelevision.com, Gavin shared all things from monetisation, the CTV platform, the APAC market, and programmatic advertising to programmatic guaranteed deals.
Edited Excerpts:
On his journey with SpotX- Magnite
Gavin: I have had work experience in the APAC region for 11 years now, five of which have been focused on the OTT digital advertising sector, originally with SpotX and onwards into Magnite.
It has been a challenging, exciting, and rewarding experience to collaborate with some of the first OTT AVOD publishers in the region and assist them in being best positioned and embracing programmatic activations and collectively grow the ecosystem together.
Today, Magnite is the leading OTT supply-side platform (SSP) in APAC. Brands are now embracing such AVOD activations due to their ability to reach and engage with scaled audiences in premium viewing environments.
On collaboration with Samsung Ads
Gavin: Our relationship with Samsung Ads is not exclusive. However, we work with them across major markets, including the US, EMEA, LATAM, South Korea, Australia, and India. Our technology helped them to monetise their inventory on their ad-supported streaming service, Samsung TV Plus, and deliver a better advertising experience for the end user.
As Samsung scales up its Samsung TV Plus inventory, working with us has accelerated its expansion plans by making it programmatically available to brands and agencies in India.
In India specifically, we have been excited to see how Samsung’s team, audience, and offers have grown. It is also exciting to watch their continued growth in advertising activation.
On emerging CTV markets in APAC and the level of adoption
Gavin: Apart from India, APAC’s major CTV markets include Australia and New Zealand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The OTT market in India is the fourth largest globally and one of the most competitively growing markets. Advertisers have unprecedented opportunities to reach audiences increasingly shifting to OTT streaming.
According to Magnite research in Southeast Asia, OTT is now watched more regularly than traditional TV among audiences aged 16–34 who prefer ad-supported over ad-free content. While mobiles continue to be the dominant device for accessing streaming content, CTV is on the rise, especially among affluent OTT audiences, 20 per cent of whom watch CTV.
In addition, GroupM’s “This Year Next Year” research found that OTT investment in APAC will grow from $4.3 billion in 2020 to $7.2 billion in 2026, increasing by around 67 per cent in six years.
On adoption of programmatic
Gavin: For several reasons, the adoption of programmatic has been slower in some markets in APAC. Magnite provides education and information about the opportunities and benefits that are on offer for buyers and sellers. There has been a marked increase in activation.
While programmatic trading simplifies the supply chain, continued education and case study examples will assist in educating clients on the benefits and value it can bring to publishers and brands.
On the OTT/CTV front, unless there’s transparency and an understanding of the different roles linear TV and OTT play, clients won’t just buy based on the availability of existing tech, but on their understanding of the benefits of such technology.
For programmatic to develop further, it needs to be pushed forward from both the buy and sell side. For publishers, programmatic enables them to maximise revenue through technology and provides greater efficiencies.
On major players’ rollout of advertising solutions
Gavin: The upcoming ad solutions provided by major streaming players are clear evidence that the publishers are now ready to embrace the AVOD model.
This shift will increase available CTV inventory in the market and its demand by pushing more supply out of walled gardens and into the open programmatic ecosystem.
Magnite, thus, expects the continued expansion of biddable inventory as a progressive step toward true utilisation of premium streaming services. Since publishers are now realising the actual potential of programmatic demand activations competing with direct deals, they’ll continue leaning into this real-time biddable inventory to take advantage of the increased yield opportunities it generates as the value of premium addressable video from brands grows.
On duplication of audiences in an omnichannel environment
Gavin: Identity fragmentation across the ecosystem is limiting the brand’s ability to effectively communicate parameters, such as ad frequency. The sell-side is uniquely positioned to help brands curb ad quality issues such as repetition and improvisation in delivery. In today’s identity space, the publisher increasingly controls the interaction with content viewers and has access to personal information about them.
By leveraging frequency capping in the SSP, buyers can lower ad frequency even across publishers’ wishes to protect their user data from being used outside their chosen sell-side platforms.
The SSP’s close relationship with the publishers has resulted in the most accurate user identifiers in every bid request. Because they are only one or two “hops” away from the publisher, SSPs can reach audiences more effectively than traditional publishers. To gain insight into user IDs and campaign reach, sell-side technology evaluates all bid requests, including those that demand-side platforms (DSPs) reject due to queries per second (QPS) limits and other restrictions.
With more users ingesting media across platforms, addressing fragmentation to improve ad experiences has never been more critical. To help improve the performance of campaigns, buyers can be proactive by talking to their SSP about frequency capping and other identity-related ad delivery criteria. By reaching audiences across touchpoints in a controlled, planned way, brands can drive efficient impact and ROI.
On the major areas of investment
Gavin: CTV is the fastest-growing digital medium, and advertising in this space is poised to be largely traded programmatically in the future. 42 per cent of Magnite’s business is now CTV. However, the company is now focused on continuing its investment in a diverse omnichannel strategy to build upon and scale CTV capabilities to better serve new and existing clients.
The acquisitions of SpotX and SpringServe by Magnite in 2021 created the largest independent CTV and video advertising platforms, and thus advanced Magnite’s programmatic OTT and CTV innovations. In early 2022, the company acquired Carbon and Nth Party to strengthen its audience and identity capabilities. This collaboration helped Magnite accelerate the integration of audience and identity solutions across its omni-channel offerings. Magnite strived to give retailers all the tools necessary to maximise their audiences across all channels.
On the programmatic guaranteed (PG) deals preference
Gavin: With programmatic guaranteed, the publisher commits to their video inventory in exchange for a “guarantee” of a certain rate and impression goal. While a buyer bids 90-100 per cent of the time on PG, they bid as the market demands and the audience layers they apply on a private marketplace (PMP). PG is essentially a high-fill PMP.
Depending on campaign goals, PG may effectively suit a marketer’s KPIs. However, by solely “checking the box” of PG instead of bidding on inventory across PMPs, brands may be missing opportunities for cross-publisher and omnichannel flexibility.
If publishers restrict their inventory to just PG activations (even for a guaranteed fill rate), they risk making less money than they might in a higher bid-density auction. For sellers, the upside of PG is that it enables them to forecast their inventory fill with a set volume and price, as committed upfront to the buyer. However, this doesn’t necessarily guarantee a greater yield.
An area that created concern for publishers in activating PMP is the lower fill rates achieved per campaign, which could result in ad server timeouts and slow decisioning where the publisher is using a suboptimal waterfall ad server. However, with a modern ad server built with programmatic in mind or header bidding tools, activating PMP results in higher fills and less timeout, leading to potentially higher yields and better viewing experiences. This is a growing area of interest and education in India and across the APAC region.
On key trends in the programmatic advertising space in APAC
Gavin: Firstly, OTT/CTV will continue to be one of the largest growth areas in programmatic activation in the region and secondly, advertisers will further see the value of an omnichannel open internet approach to deliver scale, addressability, performance, and return on investment (ROI).
Furthermore, header bidding/holistic ad decisioning adoption across all digital formats will prove to be the best direction for the supply and demand side in enabling scaled audience activation, programmatic and direct campaign synergy, improved yield management, more opportunities for inventory monetization, and collective ROI.
Gaming
India’s new online gaming rules take effect today, banning money games and creating a regulator
The rules, in force from today, separate e-sports from gambling and impose jail terms and stiff fines on violators
NEW DELHI: India’s online gaming sector woke up this morning to a new reality. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Rules, 2026, came into force today, May 1st, turning a year of legislative intent into enforceable law. The message from New Delhi is blunt: e-sports and social games are welcome; online money games are not.
The rules operationalise the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming (PROG) Act, passed by Parliament in August 2025. Together, they represent the most sweeping regulatory intervention India has made in its booming digital gaming market, one that generated Rs 23,200 crore in 2024 and is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 11 per cent to reach Rs 31,600 crore by 2027. The stakes, in every sense, could not be higher.
A sector out of control
The urgency behind the legislation is not hard to find. An estimated 45 crore Indians have been affected by online money gaming platforms, with losses exceeding Rs 20,000 crore. Addiction, financial ruin, money laundering, and suicides have all been linked to the sector. Seventy-seven per cent of the market’s revenues came from transaction-based games, a figure that made regulators deeply uneasy.
The government’s response, effective as of today, is categorical. Online money games, whether based on chance, skill, or any mix of the two, are banned outright. So is their advertising, promotion, and facilitation. Banks and payment processors are barred from handling related transactions. Unlawful platforms can be blocked under the Information
Technology Act, 2000.
The penalties are designed to sting. Offering or facilitating online money games can attract up to three years in jail and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore, or both. Repeat offenders face a minimum of three years, extendable to five, with fines between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2 crore. Advertising such games carries up to two years in prison and fines of up to Rs 50 lakh, with repeat violations attracting higher penalties still. Cyber cell officers at state and union territory levels, including at police station, district, and commissionerate levels, are empowered to investigate offences.
The new sheriff in town
At the centre of the new framework sits the Online Gaming Authority of India, a digital-first regulator constituted as an attached office of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, headquartered in Delhi. It is chaired by the additional secretary of MeitY and includes joint secretary-level representation from home affairs, finance, information and broadcasting, youth affairs and sports, and law and justice, a deliberately multi-sectoral design built for a complex sector.
The authority’s powers are broad. It will maintain and publish lists of online money games, investigate complaints, issue directions, orders, and codes of practice, hear appeals on user grievances, and coordinate with financial institutions and law enforcement to ensure effective and timely action.
Its decisions on game classification are to be completed within 90 days, a time-bound commitment that industry players have welcomed after years of regulatory ambiguity. Classification can be triggered by the authority acting on its own initiative, by an application from a service provider, or by a notification from the central government. Games will be assessed on objective factors: whether stakes are involved, whether players expect monetary winnings, the revenue model, and whether in-game assets can be monetised outside the game. The outcome is recorded in a determination order specific to the game and provider.
E-sports gets its moment
While the crackdown on money gaming dominates today’s headlines, the rules also carve out a structured path for e-sports and online social games. Registration, required when notified by the central government, applies to all games offered as e-sports and is based on factors including risk to users, scale, financial transactions, and country of origin. A successful application yields a digital certificate of registration with a unique number, valid for up to ten years. Service providers must display registration details, designate a point of contact, comply with data retention requirements, and follow directions on facilitating payments.
Online money games are explicitly ineligible for recognition or registration as e-sports under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. The separation is deliberate, and the industry has noticed.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, called today’s operationalisation “encouraging,” pointing to publisher-led registration of esports titles and a time-bound determination process as creating “much-needed certainty for all stakeholders.” He added that the “continued emphasis on clearly separating esports from online money gaming is critical in preserving the integrity of competitive gaming as a skill-driven discipline.” He described it as “a proud moment to see official acknowledgement of the broader benefits of responsible esports and gaming, from building confidence, discipline, and teamwork to creating new career pathways for young talent,” and said the framework sets “a strong foundation for the ecosystem to scale in a more structured and globally competitive manner.”
Animesh Agarwal, co-founder and chief executive of S8UL, was equally bullish. “This clarity is critical in unlocking investor confidence and attracting multi-genre brands, while also enabling organisations to take a more long-term view, whether in investing in talent, scaling teams, or building globally competitive formats,” he said, adding that it “strengthens trust among audiences and mainstream stakeholders, positioning esports not just as a sport, but as a fast-growing youth entertainment category in India.”
But Agarwal urged caution on several fronts. There remains limited clarity around financial frameworks, particularly in how esports earnings are treated by banks and financial institutions. A well-defined pathway for the formal recognition or registration of esports teams is still evolving, as are structured player protections. He also called for smoother visa processes for esports athletes competing in international tournaments and for government support in developing infrastructure, including bootcamps, training facilities, and access to high-performance equipment across titles.
Vishal Parekh, chief operating officer of CyberPowerPC India, pointed to downstream effects on education and careers. “With formal recognition and policy backing, colleges and institutions are more likely to take the sector seriously, whether through dedicated esports infrastructure, training programmes, or curriculum integration,” he said, adding that this helps students view gaming as a viable career spanning roles across competitive play, content, game development, and allied industries. He noted that as esports gains prominence in global multi-sport events, the framework strengthens India’s position in international competitive gaming, and called on the ecosystem to provide the right infrastructure and access to high-performance hardware to unlock opportunities in talent development and job creation.
Protecting users, one safeguard at a time
The rules introduce a layered system of user protections calibrated to the risk profile of each game. These include age verification, age gating, time restrictions, parental controls, user reporting tools, counselling support, and fair-play and integrity monitoring. Service providers must disclose their safety features and internal grievance mechanisms when applying for determination or registration.
A two-tier grievance redressal system sits atop these safeguards. Users who are dissatisfied with a platform’s resolution can escalate to the authority within 30 days. The authority aims to dispose of such appeals within a further 30 days. A second appeal lies before the secretary of MeitY, who must also endeavour to resolve matters within 30 days. Enforcement proceedings will be conducted in digital mode wherever possible, with cases targeted for resolution within 90 days from receipt of a complaint.
Penalties under the framework are proportionate, taking into account gain from non-compliance, loss to users, the gravity of the offence, and whether violations are recurring. Mitigation efforts by service providers will also be considered when determining penalties. All penalties imposed under the Act will be credited to the Consolidated Fund of India.
The money follows the rules
For investors and founders, the implications are immediate and significant. Sagar Nair, head of incubation at LVL Zero Incubator, a 100-day sprint designed to accelerate early-stage gaming startups across India, argues that with real-money gaming now prohibited, capital will shift “away from transaction-driven models toward content-led, IP-driven, and global-first gaming businesses.” He acknowledged trade-offs: for operators with exposure to real-money formats, the market becomes more restrictive in the near term. But he argued that by clearly separating esports and non-money gaming from online money gaming, “India is positioning itself as a hub for responsible, creative, and scalable game development.” The opportunity, he said, is “to view India not just as a monetisation-first market, but as a talent, IP, and scale market,” adding that “for founders and investors willing to adapt, this shift could ultimately strengthen India’s position in the global gaming landscape.”
The government frames the wider impact in equally ambitious terms: a boost to India’s creative economy and digital exports, new career pathways for young people, protection for families from predatory platforms, and a stronger voice in global digital governance. India, it argues, offers a model for other countries grappling with the same tensions between gaming’s economic promise and its social risks, one that shows innovation and strong safeguards need not be mutually exclusive.
Whether the framework delivers on those promises will depend on enforcement, always the hardest part. But from today, the architecture is firmly in place: a regulator with teeth, a classification system with deadlines, penalties designed to deter, and a clear dividing line between games that build careers and games that destroy finances. For a sector that has grown fast and governed itself loosely, May 1st, 2026 is the day the free ride ends.
