India’s digital-only audience rises to 313 million, 75% users from rural areas: Kantar Media Compass
Digital-only audiences—defined as users who access the internet but do not watch linear television—have grown by 30% since 2024, when they accounted for 20% of the population.
New Delhi, December: India’s digital-only audience has surged to 313 million users, accounting for 26% of the country’s population aged 15 years and above, with nearly three-fourths of these users residing in rural India, according to the latest Kantar Media Compass Report for Q3 2025.
The report highlights a rapid shift in India’s media consumption patterns, driven by rising internet penetration, mobile-led access and changing viewing habits across geographies and age groups. Digital-only audiences—defined as users who access the internet but do not watch linear television—have grown by 30% since 2024, when they accounted for 20% of the population.
Kantar’s quarterly Media Compass report is based on a rolling sample of 87,000 consumers and provides updated insights on reach, frequency, cross-media consumption and category-linked behaviours to help advertisers and media planners optimise investment decisions.
While digital adoption is accelerating, linear television continues to remain significant, though viewership has seen a marginal decline. Linear TV viewership dipped from 705 million in Q1 2025 to 689 million in Q3 2025. At the same time, consumption across screens is increasing, with the number of viewers watching content on both linear TV and connected TV rising to 116 million in Q3 2025, marking a 17% increase over Q1 2025.
Rural India has emerged as a key driver of digital growth. The report notes that three in four digital-only users are from rural areas, and 49% of the incremental connected TV viewers added during the period also come from rural markets. Digital-only audiences are also over-indexed among NCCS C and DE segments and younger age groups.
The expanding digital footprint is also reshaping the consumer purchase journey. Around 43% of Indians now browse online shopping platforms for discovery, research and deal-hunting, positioning retail media networks as influential upper-funnel touchpoints for brands.
The findings suggest significant implications for advertisers. Kantar said brands need to rethink long-held assumptions about media reach, particularly in traditionally media-dark geographies, and adopt more flexible strategies that balance linear and digital investments. Telecom-first rural strategies, vernacular content and mobile-led formats are expected to play a growing role in unlocking deeper engagement.
Retail platforms are also emerging as critical environments for brand storytelling, where always-on, optimised content can influence consumer decisions much earlier in the purchase journey, the report said.
Commenting on the findings, Puneet Avasthi, director, specialist businesses, South Asia at Kantar, said the sharp rise in digital-only audiences signals a decisive shift in content consumption. “With strong growth coming from rural and younger segments, brands must rethink how they build reach and relevance. As media behaviour becomes increasingly multi-screen, Media Compass provides the timely intelligence required to plan with precision,” he said.
Kantar said the Media Compass report is designed to offer marketers more frequent, up-to-date intelligence to navigate India’s rapidly evolving media ecosystem and respond effectively to shifting audience behaviour.
