MAM
Elimination of advertising on CBC/Radio-Canada services would be bad public policy: Nordicity
MUMBAI: A new study by Nordicity Group reveals that advertising does not detract from Canada‘s public broadcaster‘s mandate and that there is no good public policy reason to eliminate advertising from its television services. In fact, most public broadcasters around the world carry advertising or are engaged in commercial activities.
Removing ads from CBC/Radio-Canada‘s services would result in a significant reduction of Canadian content and have serious consequences for both the independent production sector and advertisers.
The study was released by CBC/Radio-Canada in the context of the International Institute of Communication‘s pre-conference on public broadcasting, organised alongside the Corporation‘s 75th anniversary celebrations.
Commissioned as part of the Corporation‘s ongoing efforts to inform debate about the role and responsibility of the public broadcaster, the findings will inform decisions as the Corporation continues the implementation of its five-year strategy, 2015: Everyone, Every Way.
CBC/Radio-Canada president, CEO Hubert T Lacroix said, “Private and public broadcasters compete on many levels in our mixed public-private system, but each has a contribution to make. The national public broadcaster has access to advertising revenues to help meet Broadcasting Act objectives, while private broadcasters have, most notably, access to public subsidies to help them meet Canadian content requirements.”
“The elimination of advertising revenues would seriously compromise the Corporation‘s ability to fulfill its mandate and roll-out initiatives planned under 2015: Everyone, Every Way,” added Lacroix.
Nordicity estimates that the elimination of advertising from CBC/Radio-Canada would result in a net financial impact of $533 million. That would translate into a $160 million reduction in Canadian programming expenditures. CBC/Radio-Canada, alone, invests as much in Canadian programming as all conventional private broadcasters combined ($696 million in broadcast year 2010).
In addition, Canadian businesses that rely on the public broadcaster as an advertising vehicle, would suffer from the loss of CBC/Radio-Canada as an option. This would mean fewer – if any – alternatives in smaller markets. And because of reduced inventory, TV ad rates would invariably be pushed up.
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.
