India CTV and FAST leaders discuss industry body at ICFC roundtable

MUMBAI: India’s CTV and FAST industry is trying to get on the same wavelength, with senior players coming together to explore whether a common industry body can bring greater transparency, trust and standardisation to the rapidly evolving ecosystem.

The inaugural India Connected TV & FAST Council (ICFC) roundtable, convened by Runn Media Labs (RunnTV), brought together leaders from across the value chain, including JioStar, Zee, Magnite, The Trade Desk and CloudTV.

Rather than launching a formal body, the meeting focused on testing the industry’s appetite for one and what it should look like. Discussions covered the potential organisation’s structure, governance, funding model, membership categories and stakeholder representation, with participants stressing that it must remain independent and avoid being dominated by any single company or segment.

The proposed body could bring together broadcasters, FAST and OEM platforms, content and channel owners, brands and advertising agencies to tackle issues that are becoming harder to ignore as viewing shifts towards OTT and FAST services on connected TVs.

Among the key areas discussed were audience measurement, industry standards and quality, data and privacy, research and insights, policy engagement and wider ecosystem collaboration. The objective was to identify where collective action could make the market more transparent while giving advertisers and other stakeholders greater confidence in the medium.

The timing is significant, with the government also taking steps towards a formal regulatory framework for FAST and Application-based Linear Television Distribution (ATLD) services.

Manish Sinha, Founder and CEO, RunnTV, said the CTV and FAST ecosystem is growing rapidly but remains fragmented and lacks adequate infrastructure. He said the roundtable was intended to begin an open and inclusive conversation around common standards, shared measurement and a credible industry voice.

CloudTV COO Abhijeet Rajpurohit said the shift in user behaviour towards OTT and FAST on CTV could make this decade a crucial period for the ecosystem, adding that an industry-level push could help unlock its potential.

For an industry still figuring out how to measure, regulate and monetise its next phase of growth, the ICFC discussion marks an early attempt to turn a collection of competing screens into a more coordinated ecosystem.