MAM
Debkumar Dasgupta joins Dangal TV as Head of Syndication
Veteran broadcast executive to drive international and national content sales
MUMBAI: Debkumar Dasgupta, a seasoned broadcast media professional with over 30 years in the industry, has taken charge as head of syndication at Dangal TV, overseeing both international and national markets.
Dangal TV, owned by Enterr10 Television Network, is a popular 24-hour Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC). Launched in 2009 originally for Bhojpuri movies, it has since pivoted to Hindi entertainment, with a focus on family dramas, mythology, and crime shows catering to both urban and rural audiences.
Dasgupta brings a formidable track record in content acquisition, syndication sales, and P&L management across ME, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. His career spans top media organisations including IndiaCast Media, Viacom18, MTV Networks, Catvision Products and Tee-Men’s.
Most recently, he was with GoQuest Media as group partnership and strategy head, managing partnerships and monetisation strategies across the region. He also served as vice president – content acquisition and partnership for Asia and Africa, negotiating deals for Turkish dramas and other high-demand content.
Earlier stints include senior vice president and business head roles at IndiaCast Media Distribution, steering ME&A and global syndication sales, and boosting the reach of Viacom18 channels such as Colors, MTV India, Colors Rishtey and News18 India across Asia-Pacific, South Asia, ME, Africa, CIS, CEE and Latin America.
Dasgupta began his media journey as senior director – network development at MTV Networks India, managing channel carriage and affiliate revenues, before moving into content sales and international business with Viacom18. He started in cable TV sales with Catvision Limited, handling nationwide dealer and distributor networks.
Known as a creative change agent, Dasgupta has consistently driven revenue growth, market share expansion, and efficiency improvements, combining deep market insights with hands-on leadership.
With his global expertise and strong cross-functional experience across sales, legal, marketing, programming, logistics and finance, Dangal TV is set to strengthen its content syndication footprint and expand its international reach under his leadership.
Dasgupta’s appointment signals an aggressive push to leverage ethnic content opportunities and emerging markets, ensuring Dangal TV keeps pace in an increasingly competitive broadcast ecosystem.
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.
