MAM
Lever, Star strike deal; HLL ads to be back on air soon
MUMBAI: The country’s largest advertiser Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) and lead broadcaster Star India have resolved their differences over ad rates. Though the deal is still to be inked, the two have reached in-principle agreement, Star confirmed to indiantelevision.com.
Attempts to contact Mindshare Fulcrum (which manages the HLL account) head Vikram Sakhuja for his comment on the development were to no avail.
In the end, it looks as if the double burden of not having a presence on the most powerful cable and satellite network, Star as well as on the terrestrial network Doordarshan, proved too much for HLL.
The sticking point till now on the issue of the eight per cent service tax has also been resolved in Star’s favour, it is learnt. Star officials have not commented on this aspect however, except to say that the negotiations that had been going on since 1 August have finally reached a satisfactory conclusion.
As reported in the Economic Times, it was over the service tax issue that HLL lost the sponsorship rights to the India-New Zealand-Australia cricket series starting 8 October. When DD first signed the deal with the sponsors, unlike other private channels, it was exempt from service tax. But in late July, the government issued a circular that henceforth Prasar Bharti will also be subjected to the tax with retrospective effect from 1 April.
DD, which has exclusive telecast rights of the series for India, immediately directed its three main sponsors — Pepsi, Hero Honda and Lever — and five associate sponsors — Perfetti, Castrol, Maruti, Pidilite and LG — to cough up the eight per cent service tax over and above the Rs 42.5 million and Rs 32 million that the main sponsors and the primary sponsors, respectively, had individually paid.
While others paid up, HLL refused to play ball. It was after this that DD cancelled HLL’s sponsorship rights.
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.
