MAM
Big RTL Thrill’s Fear Factor – Darr Se Takkar brings on board Mountain Dew and Vista D90 as partners
MUMBAI: BIG RTL Thrill has brought on board key male targeted brands Mountain Dew and Vista D90 as the title sponsor and associate sponsor respectively, for its show Fear Factor – Darr se Takkar.
With the channel reaching out to male audiences in the 15-44 years age group, the association enables Mountain Dew and Vista D90 to communicate with their TG. Mountain Dew’s campaign stays true to its positioning – ‘Darr Ke Aage Jeet Hai’, while the Vista D90 campaign communicates the ‘Designed to Thrill’ spirit.
Reliance Broadcast Network regional TV business head Sunil Kumaran said, “Our association with Mountain Dew and Vista D90 underlines our belief in creating a channel, offering action based content, to male audiences. These far, mass male targeted brands have had to make do with GEC’s, to reach their audiences even though it is a well known fact that these channels are more women titled. Big RTL Thrill comes as an answer to an advertisers’ quest for a platform that reaches male audiences effectively.”
Mountain Dew category director-flavors Ruchira Jaitly said, “Mountain Dew as a brand has always inspired people to face their fears to emerge victorious because the brand believes that beyond fear lies victory. Fear Factor – Darr Se Takkar is an ideal platform for us to associate with since the content of the show resonates well with the content of our communication.”
“Our association with Fear Factor – Darr Se Takaar on BIG RTL Thrill resonates the new Vista D90 positioning – all about the adrenalin rush of those who constantly seek thrill. The association goes far beyond just ‘staple diet’ sponsorship and connects with the right audience in interesting ways,” said Lodestar UM vice president Deepak Raj Netram.
BIG RTL Thrill is available across the platforms of Reliance Digital TV, Digicable, Sity cable, Incable, Hathway Digital, 7 Star Cable, JPR, Satellite, Star Broadband and others.
The show will ride on Reliance Broadcast Network’s consumer awareness campaign called ‘Choose Your Set Top Box Wisely’ / ‘Samajhdari se Chune, Apna Set Top Box’. After an extremely successful roll-out of the campaign across the 4 metros in DAS phase I, the campaign now extends across 38 cities in DAS phase II.
The 12-week campaign launched on 1 April has been designed to empower consumers with information on digitization. Simultaneously, it also offers distribution partners an excellent opportunity to strengthen brand equity. The campaign will see an extensive multi-media marketing push with the help of RBNL’s marketing muscle and expertise and will be promoted across the platforms of television, radio, cinemas, digital, outdoor, and on-ground.
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.
