Government finalises OTT ad panel with JioHotstar, ZEE5, Amazon MX Player and FanCode

DELHI: The wait is over. The Central Bureau of Communication, the media-buying arm of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, has notified the final panel of empanelled OTT platforms for its Category A campaigns, and four names have made the cut: JioHotstar, run by Jiostar India, ZEE5, from Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Amazon MX Player, under Amazon Seller Services, and FanCode, operated by Sporta Technologies. All four accepted the complete L1 rate matrix, and empanelment letters went out on 20 August, with the advisory itself dated 27th August and signed by Harshit Narang, deputy director, New Media wing.

The empanelment is not a token gesture. It runs for three years from the date of the advisory, or until the Digital Advertisement Policy 2023 lapses, whichever comes first, with a possible one-year extension if the director general or principal director general of the CBC signs off. That gives all four platforms a reasonably long runway to bank government ad spend, at rates that are now a matter of public record.

The rate card itself is where the real detail sits, and it rewards a close read. A video ad on mobile or desktop, pre-roll or mid-roll, non-skippable, costs Rs 70 per CPTI or CPM for every 10 seconds of creative. Push the same non-skippable format onto connected tv and the rate more than doubles to Rs 150, reflecting the living-room premium advertisers already pay in the open market. Live-event video ads sit in between at Rs 125 per 10 seconds, a nod to the fact that sport and live content still commands scarcity pricing even inside a government rate card. Display pause ads come in at Rs 80 on a straight CPTI or CPM basis, while home screen masthead banners, whether on mobile, desktop or CTV, and mobile banners themselves, are uniformly priced at Rs 45. All figures are exclusive of GST but inclusive of service costs, and every video campaign must run non-skippable, no exceptions.

Duration caps vary sensibly by platform. Zee and Amazon can run video ads up to 60 seconds, FanCode caps out at 30 seconds, and Jio splits the difference by platform: 30 seconds on its sports inventory and 55 seconds for entertainment. For an ad sales industry that spends much of its time guessing what government business is actually worth, this advisory does something rare: it puts a number on it, line by line.