MAM
Zeno Group Names Margaret Key as CEO, Asia Pacific
MUMBAI: Zeno Group has appointed Margaret Key to the new position of CEO, Zeno Asia Pacific, effective today.
In the newly-created CEO post, Key will join Zeno’s Global Leadership Team and oversee a growing staff of 135 professionals in India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia as well as the network of Zeno+ partners across the region. Key brings extensive industry leadership experience throughout North and South Asia, most recently as CEO, Asia-Pacific for Burson-Marsteller.
“We are thrilled to have someone of Margaret’s high profile and caliber join Zeno in Asia Pacific, a vitally important region as our business continues to expand and globalize,” said Barby K. Siegel, CEO of Zeno Group. “In addition to her deft leadership skills, Margaret understands the balance of local experience and global strategy. This is especially important as more and more of our clients look to us for an integrated Asia solution.”
Zeno’s client portfolio in APAC features world class brands such as Lenovo, Wuling Motors, Netflix, Intel, Prudential, Johnson & Johnson and Temasek. Zeno in APAC offers a range of modern communications and earned media capabilities across consumer, technology and health sectors, with deep expertise in digital and analytics.
Most recently, Key served as CEO, Asia Pacific at Burson-Marsteller, where she managed a diverse portfolio across 17 offices in eight countries. Previously, she served as MD for Edelman in Korea and Japan, and before that, held communications positions with Hyundai and Hilton in Seoul, Korea. Among her major client relationships, Key has counseled and led pan-Asia communications for Huawei, Ford Motor, Delta, Bayer and LG.
“Zeno’s fearless, entrepreneurial culture is the perfect place for me, and the ideal opportunity at this time given their incredible momentum globally and commitment specifically to expanding in Asia,” said Key. “It’s also a welcome return for me to the Daniel J. Edelman family, where my career first began.”
Key will be based in Seoul, Korea, her longtime home, with her husband and family.
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.
