MAM
Sahara One builds hype around ‘Kohinoor’ with 3 phase marketing campaign
MUMBAI: As the legendary Kohinoor diamond remains shrouded in mystery; Sahara One Television is leaving no stones unturned to arouse curiosity around their new show titled Kohinoor, which is slated to go on air on 5 September at 10 pm.
The first phase of the marketing campaign was unleashed on 16 August with teaser hoardings all over the country flaunting the question – “Is the Kohinoor diamond still in India?” and “Do the British have the fake Kohinoor diamond?
The second phase of the campaign will hit the roads on 22 August (Monday), wherein the protagonists of show and the launch date will be revealed.
The Rediff ‘Kohinoor’ blog has interesting postings and have surely got people talking!
The campaign will hit with close to one million posters across 20 cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Kolkatta, Indore, Lucknow, Kanpur, Pune and Surat. Almost 450 outdoor sites in key metros and mini metros will rouse the curiosity of the common man. BEST buses and railway stations across Mumbai have been branded with Kohinoor.
Apart from that, two million flyers have been pasted in 13 cities including Mumbai, Baroda, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Kolkatta, Pune and Surat.
Sahara One will also be conducting a road show across 10 cities (Mumbai, Nagpur, Delhi, Chandigarh, Pune, Surat, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Baroda and Kolkatta) over 10 days, which will eventually lead up to an on-air contest on the channel. The road show will kick start on 22 August.
And as if that was not all, a special music video has also been created around Kohinoor.
The ‘Kohinoor’ mystery has spread across town. Seen here is a poster on the Sion Highway in Mumbai
Alongside outdoor, the show will also be promoted across the Internet, cable, print and all radio channels. Cross channel promos on NDTV, Aaj Tak, ETV Marathi, ETV Bengali etc are also on the Kohinoor agenda.
The show will also be promoted across malls in various cities.
Direct mailers to the media fraternity across Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkatta will be sent out via various newspapers and magazines.
A blog on Rediff (http://kahangayakohinoor.rediffblogs.com) has been created, wherein surfers post their comments on what they think about the Kohinoor that is suddenly being talked about.
Promotional activity around the show will also be seen across Yahoo! India from 22 August.
Sahara One Television head – marketing Rajeev Chakrabarti
Speaking exclusively to Indiantelevision.com, Sahara One Television head – marketing Rajeev Chakrabarti says, “The idea behind this marketing campaign was to create intrigue and curiosity around the Kohinoor diamond and resurface it by making it the talking point among people.”
The half hour show Kohinoor will be aired at 10 pm from Monday to Thursday on Sahara One. Once the show launches on 5 September, the third phase of the marketing campaign will kick start from 6 September. However, Chakrabarti remained tight lipped on what the third phase of the campaign will encompass.
The channel is pitching the show against Star Plus’ Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, Sony’s Ye Meri Life Hai and Zee’s Time Bomb (Monday), Rabba Ishq Ka Hove (Tuesday), Rooh (Wednesday) and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge (Thursday).
With television stalwarts like Kahaani… in the 10 pm slot, only time will tell whether Sahara One’s efforts around Kohinoor will pay off or not. Till then… the buzz around the show continues.
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.
