MAM
James Bailey named Media CEO at dentsu UK & Ireland
LONDON: Dentsu has handed the reins of its UK and Ireland media business to James Bailey, naming him Media CEO with immediate effect as the network accelerates its Media++ growth strategy.
Bailey steps up from his role as CEO of iProspect UK, where he has led the agency since its 2021 consolidation with Vizeum. During that time, he oversaw a unified operation across six locations and secured major account wins including Kering, eBay, Netflix and Tapestry.
The appointment comes at a time when dentsu is repositioning media as more than just buying and planning. Under its Media++ approach, media is framed as the engine for client growth, bringing together audience strategy, activation, content, CRM, data and technology.
Bailey will report to Annette Male, CEO of dentsu UK and Ireland. He takes over from Shenda Loughnane, who has been leading the media organisation on an interim basis since July 2025 alongside her global role at dentsu X.
Loughnane now takes on an expanded remit as market lead for Ireland while continuing as global president of dentsu X. Based in Dublin, she will report jointly to Will Swayne, global practice president for media and integrated solutions, and to Bailey.
During Bailey’s tenure at iProspect, the agency placed third in Recma’s UK media rankings in 2025, second in campaign’s new business rankings and earned a shortlist spot for Agency of the Year at the Campaign Media Week awards. Bailey himself was shortlisted for Media Agency Leader of the Year, adding to his earlier recognition as a three time Campaign top ten media suit.
Annette Male said Bailey had built “something transformational” at iProspect and would now focus on ensuring each of dentsu’s media brands had the tools and ambition to drive growth for clients.
Will Swayne added that both Bailey and Loughnane had played key roles in shaping the Media++ strategy and would help accelerate its rollout across the UK and Ireland.
For his part, Bailey said he was keen to nurture what he called some of the most future ready media talent in the UK, with the aim of building a world class team focused on measurable growth for clients.
Loughnane said she was delighted to take on the Ireland leadership role, adding that the combination of global insight and local experience would drive integrated growth in the market.
The leadership changes reflect dentsu’s push to align its regional structure with the Media++ strategy and sharpen its growth focus across both markets. With Bailey now steering the UK and Ireland media business and Loughnane anchoring the Ireland operation while continuing her global remit, the group is betting on a blend of local leadership and international scale to drive its next phase of expansion.
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.
