MAM
Collinson appoints Pitchfork Partners as new communications partner of choice in India
Mumbai: Collinson, the global leader in providing airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement solutions and the operator of the world’s leading airport lounge programme Priority Pass, has selected Pitchfork Partners as its new communications partner in India following a competitive pitch.
Through this appointment, Pitchfork Partners will assist Collinson and Priority Pass with their ambitious growth plans and vision of delivering the world’s most valuable travel ecosystem. Pitchfork Partners will collaborate closely with Collinson’s Asia Pacific team to develop a robust communications strategy and programme for the Indian market that includes executive communications, media relations, thought leadership, and crisis and issue management.
Collinson is a global, privately owned company that has been dedicated to helping people travel with ease and confidence. The company works with the world’s foremost payment networks and over 1,400 banks, 90 airlines, and 20 hotel groups worldwide. Collinson operates Priority Pass, the world’s original and market-leading airport experiences programme, offering travellers access to over 1,400 airport lounges and travel experiences across 650 airports in 148 countries.
Commenting on the appointment, Pitchfork Partners co-founder Jaideep Shergill said, “Collinson has been operational in India for over 16 years and has worked with brands, particularly within the financial services industry, to create meaningful customer engagement through delivering market-leading airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement programmes. With extensive experience in collaborating with global clients and having a profound understanding of India’s travel and hospitality sector, we as Pitchfork Partners are confident that we will be able to support Collinson’s growth and its communication strategy in India.”
As part of the global pitch, Ketchum UK was also selected as the new global communications agency lead, along with Saeloun Asia and Pitchfork appointed in APAC for Singapore and Hong Kong, and India respectively.
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.
