The JioStar Festive Sentiment Survey 2026 points to a stronger festive season for brands: the average festive transaction size in India is projected to climb 46%, from ₹16,500 to ₹24,020. The lift in basket size is accompanied by earlier purchase journeys, with 68% of consumers starting festive planning more than a month in advance.
Why early intent changes the media plan
Because nearly half of category buyers—49%—conduct research before selecting a brand, visibility during the discovery and consideration window becomes a competitive advantage. For marketers, this means festive budgets need to work harder in the weeks before the cart, not just in the final conversion days.
TV audiences are not just watching
JioStar’s Entertainment TV network records more than 680 billion viewing minutes, and primetime viewership rises 30% during the festive period. The survey reports that audiences spend 50% more time with JioStar’s network compared with UGC platforms, attention scores are up to 33% higher, and search incidence is around 2x higher than UGC videos.
TV-only audiences show an even sharper discovery effect: a search incidence index of 181 in male-focused categories and 202 in female-focused categories, compared with a base of 100 for UGC video-only audiences. Affluent buyer segments also skew toward JioStar TV, including up to 1.6x more fabric-care buyers, 1.5x more hair-styling buyers and 1.43x more ready-to-eat food buyers.
Digital adds conversion muscle
On digital, JioHotstar offers 50–80% incremental reach on connected TV and 50–90% incremental reach on mobile over leading UGC platforms. Viewers exposed to JioHotstar recorded 2.2x higher add-to-cart rates than UGC-exposed audiences, and campaigns delivered 2x higher effectiveness across business metrics on CTV.
Mahesh Shetty, Head – Entertainment Sales, TV, JioStar, said, “winning the festive season starts well before the cart.” Bhaskar Ramesh, Head – Entertainment Sales, Digital, JioStar, described the period as a critical window “to drive both visibility and conversion.”
Content properties that carry campaigns
Large-scale properties are part of the pitch. Megablast delivered 450 crore-plus views per day and 365 million-plus daily viewers, driving about 1.5x higher search interest and 2x app download growth. Launchpad on JioHotstar generated a 1.4x uplift in aided awareness and a 1.42x uplift in purchase intent for a leading e-commerce platform.
What marketers can do
- Start festive campaigns early: 68% of consumers plan more than a month out.
- Use premium TV and CTV to lift attention and search incidence, not just UGC reach.
- Pair awareness with commerce-led digital formats to capture add-to-cart and purchase intent.
The festive slate includes Bigg Boss in six languages, Koffee with Karan, Roadies and films such as Welcome to the Jungle and Drishyam 3, giving brands a long window to appear alongside high-attention content.
Source: MediaNews4U
