MAM
Kevin Vaz retained as IBDF president, Avinash Pandey to be secretary general
MUMBAI: The Indian Broadcasting & Digital Foundation (IBDF) has sent out a clear signal at its 26th Annual General Meeting in New Delhi: television remains the beating heart of India’s entertainment story.
A significant leadership transition was announced at the AGM. Media veteran Avinash Pandey will assume the role of secretary general from October 1, 2025, succeeding Siddharth Jain, whose tenure concluded on September 30. Members expressed gratitude to Jain for his contributions and warmly welcomed Pandey. Reflecting on his appointment, Pandey said, “I am honoured to take on this role at such a pivotal time. My focus will be on engaging with government, navigating the evolving regulatory landscape, and strengthening IBDF’s role as the industry’s unified voice.”
Chairing the AGM in his inaugural address as president, Jiostar India CEO – entertainment Kevin Vaz underscored the enduring power of linear TV. He pointed out that 97 per cent of India’s original content in 2024, nearly 200,000 hours, was created for television, which continues to engage audiences at scale with roughly 46 trillion minutes of annual viewing across 190 million screens. He described TV as the “bedrock of content creation and brand building in India,” highlighting its unmatched reach and cultural resonance through the family co-viewing experience. Vaz added that advertising revenues are set to climb, with the festive season offering an immediate boost and the government’s recent GST reforms providing a strong foundation for long-term growth. “Television’s next chapter is one of evolution, leveraging reach and trust, amplified by digital,” he said, affirming IBDF’s commitment to advocate for a forward-looking regulatory framework.
The AGM also featured board elections, where Gaurav Banerjee of Culver Max and R. Mahesh Kumar of Sun Network were re-elected, while Anil Kumar Singhvi of Zee Media joined as a new board member. The Office Bearers were re-elected for the new term, with Vaz as president, Rajat Sharma of India TV, Banerjee, and Kumar as vice presidents, and I. Venkat of Eenadu TV continuing as treasurer. The Board also includes Aroon Purie of TV Today Network, Gaurav Dwivedi of Prasar Bharati, Jayant Mathew of MMTV, and Punit Goenka of Zee Entertainment, while Sumanta Bose of Jiostar, John Brittas of Kairali TV, and Nachiket Pantvaidya of Culver Max were co-opted as members.
The AGM was also attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, including secretary Sanjay Jaju and additional secretary Prabhat, who joined industry leaders at a special luncheon hosted by IBDF, enabling constructive dialogue between broadcasters and policymakers.
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.
