MAM
Raghuvendra Singh Parihar joins Madison World as deputy general manager
Media strategist moves from Wavemaker to begin new chapter at Madison
MUMBAI: Media professional Raghuvendra Singh Parihar has joined Madison World as deputy general manager, marking the latest step in a career shaped by strategic media planning and integrated campaigns across some of the industry’s leading networks.
Parihar announced the move on LinkedIn, sharing his enthusiasm for the new role. “I am happy to share that I’m starting a new position as deputy general manager at Madison World,” he wrote, adding that he is grateful to Mimi S Deb and Vivek Das for their trust and the opportunity.
“I am extremely grateful to Mimi S Deb and Vivek Das for investing their trust in my capabilities and providing this wonderful opportunity. Super excited for this new journey and upcoming opportunities to learn and grow,” he said.
Parihar joins Madison World after a stint at Wavemaker, where he served as business director from January 2024 to March 2026 in Gurugram. In that role, he worked on integrated media strategies and client partnerships, sharpening his experience at the director level.
Before returning to Wavemaker, Parihar spent nearly a year at EssenceMediacom as associate director for media planning. His career also includes a client-side stint at Unacademy as manager for media planning, buying and partnerships, where he focused on digital media strategy and campaign execution.
Earlier in his career, Parihar held multiple roles at Omnicom Media Group, progressing from group head for strategy and planning to associate director of strategy. He has also worked with agencies such as Havas Media Group, Mindshare and Alliance Advertising and Marketing.
Across these roles, he has handled brands including Hyundai India, Kohler, Motorola, Lufthansa Airlines and OLX, building a portfolio that blends media strategy, analytics and campaign planning.
Academically, Parihar holds a postgraduate diploma in advertising and marketing communication from Apeejay School of Management. He also completed an executive programme in product and brand management from the Indian Institute of Management Rohtak.
With his move to Madison World, Parihar now steps into a role that places him at the heart of one of India’s prominent advertising networks, where the next chapter of his media journey begins.
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.
