Summary
- Digital and online gaming now dominate India’s media sector, overtaking traditional TV for the first time in revenue share.
- A rapid surge in user-generated content, AI-driven production, and ad tech innovation is fueling India’s new media growth story.
- With a 7% CAGR and projections of ₹564 billion added by 2027, India’s media sector is undergoing a seismic shift in content, consumption, and monetization.
The Great Media Flip: Why 2025 Is the Year India Left TV Behind
In a historic first for India’s media and entertainment industry, digital platforms—led by streaming, online gaming, and creator-driven content—have officially overtaken television as the single largest contributor to sectoral revenue. According to the joint FICCI-EY report released in March 2025, this tectonic shift is not just about formats; it marks the redefinition of how Indians produce, consume, and monetize content.
The data paints a decisive picture. Digital media now commands 32% of total M&E revenues, while linear television, once the undisputed king, has slipped into decline with a contraction of -0.6% in growth. By 2027, projections say digital and gaming will account for 46% of total revenue, while traditional media will hover at 41%.
➡️ Three broad trends that are driving #NewIndia’s digital ecosystem are:
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@RajeevRC_X) July 5, 2023
1️⃣ The digital economy is now a bigger piece of our GDP, it was at 4-5% of GDP in 2014, by 2025-26 it will be 20% of GDP
2️⃣ The digital connectivity is fast expanding, we are around 84 crore Indians… pic.twitter.com/cZ5WjAMija
The keyword shaping this transformation? Digital media growth India 2025—a term that captures not just a statistic, but a generational pivot in how India communicates, entertains, and informs itself.
From tier-one metros to small-town creators, India’s digital explosion is being propelled by a potent mix of affordability, aspiration, and algorithmic amplification. And it’s just getting started.
Streaming Beyond the Stream
- Digital media grew to ₹113 billion in 2024, now forming 41% of all M&E sector revenue.
- New media will provide 68% of the industry’s total growth over the next three years.
- Subscription revenue is shrinking (from 39% in 2024 to an estimated 35% in 2027), while advertising will make up 52% of total M&E income.
- As per the report, 2025 marks a content transition toward mobile-first, multi-format, and AI-curated experiences.
- Content creators and OTT platforms are increasingly tailoring offerings for Gen Z and vernacular audiences.
India’s streaming ecosystem has matured far beyond the Netflix-vs-Prime narrative. Regional OTTs like Aha, Hoichoi, and Planet Marathi are now competing with global giants by leveraging hyperlocal content, short-format storytelling, and influencer collaborations. Platforms like ShareChat, Moj, and YouTube Shorts have captured youth demographics that traditional TV barely understands.
The digital media growth India 2025 trend is also reflected in how AI has entered the content pipeline—from scriptwriting tools to automated dubbing in 15 languages. In a country with 22 official languages and over 1,000 dialects, AI isn’t just a convenience—it’s the key to scale.
Meanwhile, news consumption has migrated from prime-time anchors to bite-sized reels. Platforms are investing in hybrid formats that blend text, audio, video, and interactive polls to serve snackable information to always-on audiences.
Creators, Coders, and Cash: The Emerging Media Stack
- India’s creator economy is expected to contribute nearly 30% of digital ad revenue by 2027.
- GenAI tools have democratized content production, with influencers building studios in smartphones.
- Programmatic ad spending has doubled in the last year, enabled by regional and behavioral targeting.
- Online gaming and e-sports now rival TV in terms of daily active user engagement.
- Educational content, AI tutors, and edutainment formats are forming a new monetization engine in Tier 2 and 3 towns.
One of the most dramatic shifts behind the digital media growth India 2025 phenomenon is the empowerment of individuals over institutions. With platforms like ChatGPT and Midjourney, even amateur users are creating cinematic-quality visuals, audio narratives, and interactive experiences. The viral success of Ghibli-style image generation in India—where users produced hundreds of millions of stylized portraits—is a case in point.
Digital is no longer the future; it’s the present. YouTubers with 10 lakh subscribers now draw more brand income than regional news channels. Instagram meme pages outperform legacy magazines in reach. Online gamers pull in real-time donations via live streams, while their playthroughs serve as ad showcases for FMCG and fintech brands.
India’s digital economy is not just ad-funded—it’s community-funded, brand-embedded, and often crowd-commissioned.
Cracks in the Analog Foundation
- Traditional media revenues fell by ₹30 billion in 2024, driven by declines in print, music, and radio.
- TV, print, radio, and outdoor now contribute just 41% of total M&E sector revenue.
- The FICCI-EY report projects continued stagnation unless legacy sectors embrace platform diversification.
- News publishers face an existential crisis as younger users switch to WhatsApp forwards and YouTube explainers.
- Linear channels are investing in hybrid models like FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) to recapture audiences.
While the digital party surges ahead, traditional media is in a slow burn. Newspapers are surviving on weekend editions and sponsored columns. Radio is being rebranded as podcast networks. Linear TV is making awkward transitions to app-based platforms without rethinking content formats.
The digital media growth India 2025 trend is not just replacing analog—it’s displacing it emotionally. Appointment viewing has lost its urgency. Passive news reading is now an active search behavior. Users don’t wait for programming—they expect personalization, interaction, and shareability.
Unless legacy players reinvent themselves fast, their audience may disappear into algorithm-driven wormholes for good.
Beyond the Tipping Point
There’s no turning back. India’s media revolution is now digital-first by design, and AI-powered by default. The most watched show is no longer on a channel—it’s on a phone. The most influential journalist might be a creator on YouTube. And the next media tycoon might just be a coder with an idea, a phone, and an audience.
What the FICCI-EY report captures in numbers, the ground reality confirms in culture: India is not waiting to adapt. It is leading the adaptation. And that makes all the difference.
