MAM
Publicis reports increased 3Q revenues courtesy US, Asia
PARIS: Publicis the world’s fourth largest communications group has announced that consolidated revenues reached 2.79 billion euros for the quarter ended 30 September 2003. For the corresponding period last year the figure stood at 1.77 billion euros. This signifies an increase of 58 per cent.
In addition to new business won, Publicis Group effectively benefited from the improvement in the global advertising market, powered by the recovery evident for the past several months in North America and in the Asia-Pacific region. There are also encouraging signs in the European market, with relative improvement in Spain and of stabilisation in Germany.
However the European marketplace as a whole remains in negative in terms of organic growth, notably in France. In Latin America, the noticeable improvement in several markets during the third quarter made up for a decrease in Brazil.
Publicis CEO Maurice Levy admitted that while the global advertising market continued to improve the situation in Europe remains a concern. “If the German market seems to be stabilising, several significant European markets still remain difficult. The year 2003 should nevertheless provide us with the first year of growth in the advertising market for three years,” he said.
Publicis is hopeful about the ad market for next year since the biggest sporting spectacle the Olympics takes place in Athens in August. In addition the Euro 2004 soccer tournament should also give the depressed European environment a boost.
In the third quarter the amount of net new business won by all networks of Publicis rose to $600 million (515 million euros), This figure includes the loss of the global Philips account and of Carrefour in France. This brings to $2.7 billion (2.3 billion euros) the total net new business won during the first three quarters of the year. Out of this nearly 60 per cent is in advertising. In India Publicis Worldwide acquired the account of L’Oreal/Garnier. Actresses Andie McDowell and Aishwarya Rai are two of the fragrances well known faces.
Another unit Saatchi & Saatchi won the International Olympic Committee worldwide account outside of the US. It also won Emirates Airlines in Europe, Danone in Asia, several Toyota accounts in the US. The Leo Burnett agency bagged Canon in Australia, Mobinil in Egypt, McDonald’s in Indonesia, Petronas Dagang in Malaysia and Uni/President in Taiwan.
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.
