News Broadcasting
FBC India targets $4.5 million booty riding reality TV wave
NEW DELHI: Banking heavily on reality shows, Fact Based Communications (FBC) Media India, a joint venture between the Europe based FBC and four Indians, has lined up six shows over a period of 18 months.
Whats more, though the parent company doesnt dabble much in fictional works,FBC India has decided that fiction is a good route to success and would be setting up a division that would explore development of such properties for various TV channels.
Incidentally, Star Ones reality show involving budding fashion designers — Fashion House — is an Indian version of FBCs show of the similar name that has been a great hit in various parts of Europe.
We do feel that development of branded properties like reality shows on the line of Lakme Fashion House offers great opportunities here in India as demand for TV software increases with proliferation of channels. Its this opportunity that we want to exploit,FBC India director Samir Gupta said.
As proof of the demand, Gupta offers the example of MTV and Sony. Both are slated to start airing reality shows some time in the next two quarters.We are also producing a show for Zee TV,the US-trained Gupta adds.
Guptas parents have been in the media business for long. Mother Urmilla, for example, has been a deputy director-general with Doordarshan during the pubcasters hey days and had also served a stint at Star India in the late 1990s and early 2000s as the head of its then aborted DTH division.
Concurring on the potential of the Indian market is Alan Friedman, FBC Media chairman and CEO, who believes that India is an emerging market for it has a vast pool of talented and hard working professionals. He plans to target the
rapidly expanding (upwardly mobile) middle class segment, which accounts for more than 250 million of the total population.
Dwelling on branded products that can be sold to TV channels, Gupta said that the world over some companies develop formats or localize it for particular markets, which in India is being done by FBC India as it liaises with advertisers, programmers and broadcasters for possible endorsement and airing of such shows. The type of work that we are doing would come to the fore from April onwards as some programmes go on air then (including possibly Fashion House on Star One),Gupta said, adding that over the next four years or so reality shows would be much in demand.
However, in the same vein, he added that after four years or so, the demand for reality shows is likely to plateau off as such shows cannot replace soaps and serials.Globally, reality shows work on cyclical basis and we dont think India would be an exception, Gupta explained. That there is money to be made in reality shows can be gauged from the fact that a typical reality show can cost anywhere between $ 700,000 to $ 1.5 million.
Take, for example, Fashion House, which is being shot through 25 remote cameras and other gizmos. Its as close to being ‘live as you can get like the Big Brother show in the US,Gupta said.
News Broadcasting
Rising Bharat Summit 2026 spotlights India’s global ascent
PM Modi keynotes two-day event with ministers, diplomats and icons in New Delhi.
MUMBAI: India didn’t just host a summit, it threw a coming-out party for a nation ready to own the global stage. The News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2026, held on 27–28 February in New Delhi, emerged as a high-octane platform for ideas, vision and strategic dialogue, uniting national leadership, global policymakers, industry titans, defence strategists and cultural icons under the theme “Strength Within”.
Prime minister Narendra Modi set the tone with a keynote that framed India’s resurgence as a reclaiming of lost potential built over generations. “In previous industrial revolutions, India and the Global South were merely followers,” he said. “But in the era of Artificial Intelligence, India is a partner in decisions and shaping them.” He highlighted the country’s thriving AI startup ecosystem and the recent AI Impact Summit attended by over 100 nations.
Union minister Piyush Goyal (Commerce & Industry) stressed India’s readiness to scale exports and deepen manufacturing, while Ashwini Vaishnaw (Railways, I&B, Electronics & IT) positioned technology and infrastructure as twin engines of growth, especially in AI and digital trust. Jyotiraditya Scindia (Communications & North East Development) revealed India’s ambition to lead in 6G through the Bharat 6G Alliance and partnerships with over 30 countries.
Global voices added depth: former Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo called India’s development “self-sustaining” and strategically vital; ex-UK Chief of Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter asserted India deserves a seat at the great powers’ table; and former US Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez joined ambassadors from Norway, Germany and Sweden in discussions on geopolitical realignment, sustainability and defence preparedness.
Other speakers included veteran investor Ramesh Damani, World Gold Council CEO David Tait, Vianai Systems founder Dr Vishal Sikka, DeepTech Bharat Foundation co-founder Shashi Shekhar Vempati, defence experts Rajesh Kumar Singh, Sunil Ambekar, Patrick McGee, Tom Cooper and Adrian Fontanellaz, plus cultural and sporting icons Kangana Ranaut, Saina Nehwal, PR Sreejesh, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mithali Raj, Anil Kapoor and Yami Gautam.
The summit was supported by Jio Financial Services (Presenting Partner), Phonepe and DS Group (Co-Presenting Partners), Pernod Ricard India and Kia Seltos (Powered By & Driven By), state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand (State Partners), and associate partners including NSE, M3M Foundation and Reliance Industries.
Broadcast live across News18 Network, CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz, the event reinforced India’s image as a confident democracy and emerging global power proving that when strength comes from within, the world can’t help but watch.
