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Millennials may opt for Net TV over traditional pay TV
MUMBAI: Pay TV providers may want to skip peeking into the crystal ball.
New research from The Diffusion Group (TDG) finds that younger consumers are less likely than their older counterparts to subscribe to legacy pay-TV services, opting instead for the likes of Netflix or Hulu Plus.
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TDG‘s Late Millennials: A Study in Media Behavior surveyed a random sampling of more than 2,000 broadband users between the ages of 18 and 24, half of which were living at home with their parents. Of this latter group, 49 per cent said they were highly inclined to sign up for an online subscription video service once they moved out on their own, compared to 31 per cent that were highly inclined to sign up for a traditional pay-TV service when they set up their own households. This is a difference of 58 per cent.
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TDG president and principal analyst Michael Greeson admits these dispositions could change over time if OTT TV services are unable to acquire the content these consumers will want as they marry, have children, and move up the career ladder. “In the end, it will still be less about the conduit and more about the content and value the service provides.”
“While this data can be spun to rationalise a number of arguments, the simplest insight may be the most profound,” noted Greeson. “The very fact that young consumers perceive online video services as somehow more desirable or necessary than incumbent pay-TV services says volumes about the future of video.”
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
