MAM
Colors rises to No. 2 again with Golden Petal awards
MUMBAI: Viacom18’s flagship Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Colors has made it to the second position again after a hiatus of four weeks. And helping the channel regain its ranking is the first Golden Petal Awards.
As per TAM data for the week ended 31 December (C&S, 4+, HSM), Colors has added 38 GRPs (gross rating points) to its kitty to register 256 GRPs (last week 218). The telecast of Colors Golden Petal Awards (CGPA) on 25 December at 8 pm fetched a TVR of 4.98.
As per data provided by Colors, the show had 20.5 per cent reach and 48.6 minutes of time spent per viewer (TSV). Interestingly, CGPA is the highest rated TV awards show as on rival channels Zee Rishtay Awards (Zee TV) and Star Parivaar Awards (Star Plus) could manage a TVR of 4.71 and 4.0 respectively.
In week 53, the leading GEC Star Plus garnered 325 GRPs, maintaining its numero uno position. However, it lost some of its sheen as compared to the previous week (344 GRPs). Telecast of Big Star Entertainment Awards on 31 December at 10 pm recorded 4.63 TVR for the channel. It also aired Master Chef India Grand Finale on 31 December
at 9 pm that clocked 2.1 TVR.
Sony Entertainment Television (Set) saw a marginal rise of five GRPs. It ended the week with 240 GRPs, but slipped to No. 3.
Zee TV, meanwhile, saw a 14 GRP loss in the week and closed its tally with 194 GRPs. Last week the channel was the biggest gainer because of the telecast of its flagship award show, Zee Rishtay Awards.
Sab maintained its position and ended the week with 113 GRPs (last week 122) while the newly launched GEC from Star India bouquet, Life OK, slipped to 74 GRPs (last week 87 GRP) in its second week run.
Imagine TV saw a marginal rise in GRPs. It recorded 72 GRPs (last week 67). The channel aired the grand finale of its dance show, Nachle Ve with Saroj Khan, on 31 December at 10 pm which fetched 1.0 TVR.
Sahara One with 35 GRPs (last week 39 GRPs) was on the last step of the GEC ladder.
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.
