MAM
Crunchyroll and Sony Music present new podcast ‘Crunchyroll Presents: The Anime Effect’
Mumbai: Crunchyroll, the ultimate anime destination for global fans, and Sony Music Entertainment are launching Crunchyroll Presents: The Anime Effect, a weekly roundtable podcast spotlighting anime’s influence on the broader cultural zeitgeist. The Anime Effect will be available worldwide in English on all major podcast platforms beginning 16 February with new episodes every Friday.
You can listen to the trailer and subscribe to get notified when episodes drop here:
https://listen.sonymusic-podcasts.link/YX4u4bla?at=1010l396Y
As anime has exploded in global popularity, its influence can be seen on the screen and in fashion, sports, gaming, music and beyond… and not just on Crunchyroll. With coverage from the award-winning Crunchyroll News team as a throughline, Crunchyroll Presents: The Anime Effect goes beyond specific shows and popular characters just on Crunchyroll to delve into anime’s growing impact across popular culture.
The weekly podcast is hosted by Crunchyroll’s own in-house, resident anime experts – Nicholas Friedman, LeAlec Murray, and Leah President. The show is a lively mixture of roundtable news and discussion with Crunchyroll hosts and special guests as they debate hot topics, provide recommendations, and tackle fan questions.
“The Anime Effect is a natural extension of our current Crunchyroll News program and a place where fans can dive deeper into everything anime and celebrate it regardless of what platform or service it is on,” said Crunchyroll’s chief operating officer Gita Rebbapragada. “Whether you watch anime every day or are a casual viewer, this podcast is a must-listen.”
Crunchyroll Presents: The Anime Effect is available at launch as an audio show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else you get your podcasts, and as a video show on Crunchyroll and YouTube with additional platforms – including the Crunchyroll Channel – coming in 2024. Crunchyroll Premium subscribers will also be able to watch the ad-free video show weekly on the Crunchyroll app.
Podcast Hosts:
Nicholas Friedman is a career journalist who lives in the anime world. As Publisher of Crunchyroll News, Nick sits at the center of the anime culture conversation, from the latest breaking updates to the deepest dives into what fans are talking about.
LeAlec Murray is a podcaster and pop culture enthusiast. With 15-plus years of experience in the anime and gaming industry, he lives his life one pixel at a time. LeAlec currently works as a Brand Manager at Crunchyroll, helping to bring to life the anime you see every day.
Leah President is a writer, editor and longtime acolyte of geek culture. From a background as a broadcast producer (but with a secret soft heart), they would rather be crying over shojo manga or picking only the “good” options in an RPG. Leah works as a partnerships manager, bringing fans from all over the world home to Crunchyroll.
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.
