MAM
Star India restructures ad sales functions
MUMBAI: Star in its endeavour to grow its advertising revenues has decided to refurbish its ad sales functioning. The network has decided to create specific ‘client service teams’ to build and promote their brands across its entire portfolio of channels.
The current practice follows multiple channel sales teams for a marketing campaign for every channel thereby one client having numerous touch points in the network. The new set-up will follow the network sales route, enabling Star’s top 55 clients to deal with one single client servicing team making it simpler and effective for clients.
Interestingly, Zee’s EVP network sales (and former Star hand) Joy Chakraborthy recently changed Zee’s ad sales strategum with dedicated teams tasked with interfacing with major media buyers like Group M and Madison.
The Star teams will look at sponsorship, product placement, branded programming, in addition to selling ad spots across the network.
Star India COO Sameer Nair said, ”With the C&S homes in India growing at an unprecedented rate to reach 61 million now, it is important for us to work even more closely with our clients to reach this expanded audience base. By taking a more strategic approach, I believe we will be able to create new growth opportunities for both our clients and ourselves.”
Star will also publish its rate card on the Internet from 1 July at www.star.co.in to make it more accessible to clients. Discounts will be offered to clients with volume buys and established spend patterns.
Adds Star India EVP Ad sales Kevin Vaz, “We are excited about the new initiatives which we believe will make Star one of the easiest and most effective companies to deal with in India.”
Under Vaz, Juhi Ravindranath will be handling the top 55 clients for the entire network. Ravindranath was earlier handling Star Plus.
For the remaining clients, Shailesh Bijlani, who was heading Star Movies and Star World, will handle Hindi cluster while Shanti Rao who was heading Star Utsav, will head the English cluster.
K Sriram who heads Vijay TV’s sales will continue to be the national head for all clients.
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.
