MAM
Ad spends on cable grow at cost of networks: Kantar Media
MUMBAI: Broadcast networks in the US continued to stumble despite humble gains in advertising spends on television as a whole.
During the first half of 2011, advertising sales at the broadcast networks reduced by 7.6 per cent to $10.8 billion.
According to a report issued by Kantar Media, several factors contributed to this reduction.
The broadcast of BCS bowl games on ESPN instead of Fox generated a major one-time shift in spending to cable. The shift of March Madness from CBS to Turner Sports benefited cables further at the cost of networks.
To make things worse, ad spends on prescription drug, financial services, and consumer package goods categories were shifted to cables as well. From 1 June till 30 June, the budget allocations on cable networks were further augmented by 11.8 per cent, reaching a total of $10.8 billion.
Television on the whole rose by a meagre 1.8 per cent, as the total amount of monies spent in the medium touched $32.9 billion. TV accounted for approximately half (46 per cent) of the total advertising expenditures.
Overall, ad growth lost pace in the second quarter, as spending increased 2.8 per cent versus the year-ago period. In Q2 2010, the dollars increased 5.1 per cent.
Kantar Media North America executive vice president of research Jon Swallen said, “Advertising grew at a slower rate in the second quarter, contributing to speculation about the durability of an advertising recovery that is into its second year. Key ad spend indicators are painting a mixed picture.
On the one hand, a majority of media types actually improved their performance from Q1 to Q2. On the other, spending growth for the Top 100 advertisers stalled in Q2, and the ad market became more dependent on the comparatively smaller budgets of mid-sized advertisers.”
In the first half, top 10 TV advertisers reduced their spending by 1.7 per cent to $5.17 billion. Six out of the major spenders slashed their ad spends to some extent.
AT&T remained the largest TV spender, buying $789.4 million in air time, down 3.7 per cent as compared to the same period a year-ago.
Other significant advertisers on television: Procter & Gamble ($762.7 million, down 11.3 per cent); General Motors ($570.3 million, down 7.7 per cent); Verizon ($478.1 million, down 22 per cent); Johnson & Johnson ($431.7 million, down 15.2 per cent) Ford Motor Co. (up 0.8 per cent to $410.8 million); Pfizer ($397.4 million, down 8.2 per cent) and McDonald‘s (up 7.3 per cent to $375.1 million).
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.
