MAM
Star One’s ‘Figure it out’ co-brands with Talwalkar outlets
MUMBAI: In an attempt to garner new audiences, Star One has decided to get into retail branding. In alliance with Talwalkars gymnasiums nationwide, the channel has co-branded their fitness property Figure It Out. The show is essentially a reality fitness show which has four Mumbaiites trying to shed their weight in a matter of 100 days. The show airs at 7:30 am Mondays to Fridays.
This branding exercise has been undertaken to ensure an off-line supplement to the show allowing for more visibility and curiosity for both the show as well as for the channel.
The viewer hook for Figure It Out a chance to win free gym memberships every day for a month and viewers can participate via SMS through 7827 or by logging on to indya.com.
A special course called ‘Figure It Out course’ that has been modeled on Figure It Out and will be available at all the Talwalkar outlets.
Alongside, the show will also get promoted with the course across Talwalkar gyms and will be associated as the show’s ground partner.
Commenting on this co-branding exercise, Star India senior vice-president marketing and communications Ajay Vidyasagar says,”Fitness is fairly high in the priority list of the young Indian generation. Talwalkars was a great fit primarily because of what the brand stands for and the fact that it is a fairly desirable brand as well. This partnership brings the entire fitness gamut to the forefront and sensitises the consumer to the fitness concept.”
The urban Indian that StarOne is targeting is very upbeat about fitness, and hence this is an endeavour to offer content that would marry their requirements, avers Vidyasagar.
Interestingly, a scroll that went up on 17 March recieved a total of 500 queries the same day.
The broader idea being that if the fitness property on the channel was extended on ground, the popularity levels for the show will definitely witness a spike.
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.
