MAM
UFO Moviez reinforces cinema advertising offering
Mumbai: UFO Moviez, India’s largest digital cinema distribution network and in-cinema advertising platform with 3600+ screens across 1200+ cities, has unveiled a new brand identity, which is intended to explicitly represent the company’s core business offering i.e. cinema advertising and add value to its stakeholders.
With this, UFO Moviez is realigning its network, into two powerful channels – PRIME SCREENS (multiplexes and Hollywood release centres) and POPULAR SCREENS (standalone screens and mass appeal screens). With the new channels, insightful business intelligence and a new rate card, advertisers can carry out large screen high impact advertising that can be customized to deliver geo-targeted advertising with zero spill over. The vast network of UFO screens is the largest urban heartland network with 1800+ screens in the PRIME channel and 1800+ screens in the POPULAR channel. UFO – Cine Media Network, is also the leader in metros and Tier 1 cities with over 900+ screens and has virtually no competition in Tier II and III markets.
The new branding effort features the launch of a new & vibrant logo, contemporary montage and an updated company website. The logo brings in modern hues along with establishing the, ‘O’ of UFO which is a mobius strip to become its symbolic identity in the future. Along with this, the new logo also features a new tagline ‘Cine Media Network’, to appropriate and re-inforce its leadership position in the in-cinema media space.sanj
The revamped company website has been designed to be a one-stop destination to advertisers, exhibitors, producers and distributors for all their cinema delivery and advertising requirements. Cinema screens are the one place left, where people still look forward to watching advertisements, it is considered as part of the cinema viewing experience. With affinity to the youth and premium audience, UFO Moviez, helps brands reach and impact a receptive and open-minded audience with ‘Skip’ less advertising.
In mid 2000s, UFO Moviez optimized the potential of Indian cinema with satellite-based technology that transformed Annual Jubilee into Friday box office collections, slow-chain release into First Day – First Show, one blockbuster after another. It has made cinema into an equal experience for the whole country, making it an instant success with the youth that is already teased with pre-release teasers and trailers. UFO’s innovation driven DNA, empowers it to use technology and business intelligence to minimize content irrelevance by providing relevant content, to the relevant people, at the relevant time!
Commenting on the new development, UFO Moviez founder and managing director Sanjay Gaikwad says, “Indian Media & Entertainment industry is rapidly evolving, and hence we determined that our branding and identity needs to be more vibrant, contemporary, confident and more innovative. We are excited to unveil our new brand identity that is progressive, reflects our core business offering i.e. in-cinema advertising more prominently and is in-line with the industry’s evolution. Currently, we are India’s leading in-cinema advertising platform by scale and by reach, and the only network to reach the urban heartland audience with our robust network of 3600+ screens including 1800+ Prime screens, which include multiplexes, and release centers of Hollywood films, making UFO the leader in both Premium and Popular segments. As we continue to focus on growing our ad screen network, our new brand identity will help us to grow our ad revenues exponentially”.
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.
