Mumbai: India’s IPL advertising landscape continues to evolve as Connected TV (CTV) emerges with distinct celebrity and category preferences, even as Linear TV retains its dominance in celebrity-led brand communication, according to a new report released by TAM Sports.
The report, which analysed celebrity-endorsed advertising across all live matches of IPL Season 19 (2026), compares advertising volumes across Linear TV and Connected TV and highlights changing consumption patterns and advertiser strategies across both formats.
The study found that celebrity endorsements remained significantly stronger on Linear TV, where 61% of advertising volumes featured celebrities, compared to 49% on CTV. This translated into a 24% lower share of celebrity-led advertising on Connected TV.
Film personalities continued to dominate endorsement-led advertising across platforms. Film celebrities accounted for more than 75% of celebrity-endorsed ad volumes on Linear TV, while on CTV their contribution remained above 50%, although sports personalities emerged with a stronger presence.
Profession-wise analysis showed that film actors led celebrity advertising on Linear TV with a 55% share, followed by film actresses and sports personalities at 22% each, while TV actors accounted for 1%.
In contrast, Connected TV reflected a changing endorsement mix, with sports personalities commanding the highest share at 45%, followed by film actors at 35%, film actresses at 18%, and TV actors at 2%.
The study also found broader celebrity participation across traditional television.
Linear TV featured 75 overall celebrities and 35 sports celebrities during IPL 19, while Connected TV recorded 71 overall celebrities and 32 sports personalities.
Among celebrity endorsers, Shahrukh Khan emerged as the most visible face on Linear TV with a 10% share of celebrity-led advertising volumes. He was followed by Ishaan Khattar (9%), Ajay Devgan (7%), Amyra Dastur (7%) and Tiger Shroff (7%).
On Connected TV, Ishaan Khattar and Sara Arjun jointly led with a 9% share each, followed by Ranveer Singh (7%), Shubman Gill (6%) and Prakash Padukone (4%). Ishaan Khattar emerged as one of the few celebrities with notable visibility across both platforms.
Sports personalities also showed platform-specific leadership.
Rohit Sharma led sports endorsements on Linear TV with a 22.1% share, while Shubman Gill emerged as the leading sports celebrity on Connected TV with a 12.4% share. Rohit Sharma was the only sports personality to appear among top performers across both formats.
The advertiser and category mix further reflected differences in audience targeting.
On Linear TV, Mouth Freshener emerged as the leading advertising category and Vishnu Packaging became the top advertiser.
On Connected TV, Ecom–Other Services led category rankings, while Google emerged as the leading advertiser.
Only three advertising categories and two advertisers overlapped across both viewing environments.
Overall, the findings indicate that while Linear TV continues to rely heavily on film-led celebrity advertising to drive mass reach, Connected TV is gradually building a more diversified endorsement ecosystem shaped by sports personalities and digital-first categories, reflecting changing viewer behaviour and evolving brand priorities during IPL advertising.
