EXCLUSIVE: P&G, HUL, Kotak come on board as advertisers for Prasar Bharati’s WAVES
Storyboard18 had first reported that Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has onboarded Creativeland Asia as its marketing and sales partner for its OTT platform. Earlier, leading FMCG brands Amul and Mondelez were advertising on WAVES.
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In a significant boost to its digital monetization strategy, public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has onboarded Procter & Gamble (P&G), Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), and Kotak Bank as advertisers on its over-the-top (OTT) platform, WAVES. The move marks a growing interest from major brands in leveraging the pubcaster's new digital ecosystem to reach audiences across the country.
Storyboard18 had first reported that Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has onboarded Creativeland Asia as its marketing and sales partner for its OTT platform, Waves, as part of a broader push to strengthen its digital presence and monetization strategy.
Confirming the development, Sajan Raj Kurup, Founder and Creative Chairman of Creativeland Asia, said the partnership reflects a shared vision of blending creativity with commerce. “Our continued partnership with Prasar Bharati for WAVES is about reimagining how public media can be creative, inclusive, and self-sustaining. WAVES gives us a chance to build a vibrant, homegrown ecosystem where Indian content, culture, and innovation can thrive together, reaching audiences everywhere with both purpose and profitability,” he said.
Earlier, leading Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) brands Amul and Mondelez were advertising on WAVES. Haleon’s oral health brand, Sensodyne, is also targeting consumers in regional languages across multiple states through the public broadcaster’s OTT platform. Most of the advertisements are via programmatice channels.
WAVES currently integrates short ad spots and promotional trailers within its live streams and on-demand content. For example, Amul Gold ads are placed prominently on the home screen, while other brands run five-second and 20–30-second creatives during content playback.
Gaurav Dwivedi, CEO of Prasar Bharati, noted that Creativeland Asia’s role extends beyond traditional marketing. “Their role is to take our content and products to audiences and also to bring in advertisements for the platform, which they are doing,” he told Storyboard18. He added that WAVES has received a strong response from advertisers and is witnessing rising viewership.
Under Prasar Bharati’s Content Sourcing Policy, advertisements are inserted dynamically at appropriate intervals based on SCTE-35 markers. Any unsold inventory is monetized in a 65:35 ratio, with 65% of net revenue going to production houses or content partners and 35% to Prasar Bharati, after deducting operational expenses like transcoding and CDN costs.
To further scale its ad operations, Prasar Bharati had invited all agencies empanelled with the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) to advertise on WAVES, offering a 20% discount on business brought in. Agencies can integrate their own ad servers after a technical compatibility check with the platform’s infrastructure.
WAVES supports content in SD, HD, and 4K, with initial capacity for 10 million concurrent users, scalable up to 100 million. The platform also integrates features like gaming for kids and online shopping through ONDC, creating multiple touchpoints for advertisers.
With P&G, HUL, and Kotak coming on board, Prasar Bharati’s WAVES is positioning itself as a serious player in India’s crowded OTT advertising landscape, combining the broadcaster’s trusted legacy with modern digital innovation.
