MAM
Ajay Trigunayat bids adieu to Times Television Network
MUMBAI: Not too long ago we at indiantelevision.com were the first to report that the former Disney UTV Media Networks MD MK Anand will be taking over as the new MD and CEO of Times Television Network (TTN), stepping into Sunil Lulla’s shoes.
Well, now news is that TTN English entertainment channels CEO Ajay Trigunayat has called it a day. Sources close to the network have revealed that Trigunayat will be shortly moving on from the Times Group and is currently ensuring that the transition is smooth for his team.
The source reveals that there will be centralisation of functions now. While earlier all the functions like – HR, finance, distribution, legal, among other things, reported to Times Now, ET Now and Zoom CEO Avinash Kaul, they will now be directly reporting to M K Anand.
Plans are also afoot for getting in a network sales head, currently for the English cluster (Movies Now and Romedy Now). The network has undergone some major reshuffling. While it has appointed Mandeep Singh as network sales head; Movies Now head of sales for north Arunabh Madhur, will now take charge of national sales for the channel. Not only this, Movies Now head of sales for west Siddharth Chopra has been elevated to Romedy Now national sales head.
“Both these individuals have been around since the inception of Movies Now, which was back in 2010, and have been given the responsibility keeping in mind their commitment and hard work for the network,” says the source.
“The idea is to completely centralise the work flow of the network and to get a chief sales/revenue officer and hold fort and report directly to M K Anand,” reveals the source.
On the marketing front Shantanu Gangane will head it for both Movies Now and Romedy Now; and the programming and content team will directly report to M K Anand.
Prior to joining TTN, Trigunayat was in the Middle East in an entrepreneurial capacity, and has also been the business head of the Zee English Channels bouquet, and put in stints at Lintas, Contract and Rediffusion and at Pepsi in a sales role.
But, that’s not all! In another blow to the network, the source also reveals that Romedy Now associate business head Harsh Sheth is on his way out from the network, but will be handling operations for at least another couple of months.
Sheth has been with the TTN for just over three years; first handling the channel and business strategy for Movies Now for a period of nearly two years and then being acknowledged and elevated as the associate business head for the seven month old English entertainment channel, Romedy Now.
Prior to joining the network, Sheth has had a stint with Star India, starting out by working and handling varied Star properties across genres i.e. Star Gold, Star Movies, Star World, Star Pravah and Channel [V]. His mandate was to use consumer insights for scheduling, on-air presentation, distribution, marketing and content. He also looked after content acquisition and development of fiction as well as non-fiction shows for Channel [V] later on. He started out as an assistant manager – key accounts with TAM Media Research and handled clients like Sony, Sahara, Disney, UTV, MTV.
Both Trigunayat and Sheth were unavailable for comment, even after repeated attempts. Both these individuals have been instrumental in running the English cluster for TTN and will certainly be a loss to the organisation.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
