MAM
To The New & Amazon decode digital transformation
MUMBAI: To The New, a leading digital technology company, in association with Amazon Web Services, organized ‘Digital Transformation Summit’, a one of its kind exclusive event to decode digital transformation in Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry.
The event was attended by technology leaders from almost all the M&E companies in NCR including Tata Sky, Times Internet, HT Media, NDTV, Den Network, Zee, BusinessWorld, Network 18, India TV News, Airtel D2H, News Nation, Sahara Media, A2Z News and Amar Ujala.
To The New, a leading digital technology company, in association with Amazon Web Services, organized ‘Digital Transformation Summit’, a one of its kind exclusive event to decode digital transformation in Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry at a Delhi hotel.
A remarkable event, driven by powerful discussions, the evening started with an exemplary keynote by Dr. Jai Menon, Group Director, Technology, HT Media. Dr. Menon discussed the e2i framework, a paradigm shift in the M&E space from an enterprise style of working to an internet style. It was followed by an engaging talk by Deepak Khullar from Amazon Web Services on how media companies can effectively leverage cloud for better performance, scalability, big data and analytics. Narinder Kumar, EVP, Technology at To The New spoke about innovations & trends in M&E industry and how companies are leveraging digital technologies to acquire and retain customers.
The highlight of the evening was an interesting panel discussion which featured an impressive line of panelists such as Sudipta Banerjee, CTO, Wynk; Mahesh Subramanian, CTO, ScoopWhoop Media; Bharat Gupta, CMO, Jagran New Media; Retesh Gondal, Technology Head, ABP News Network; Ashish Bhansali, Product Head, ALT Balaji and Sushant Rabra, Director, Management Consulting, KPMG. The discussion was moderated by Deepak Mittal, Co-Founder & CEO, To The New, an industry veteran, who engaged the distinguished panelists for an insightful discussion.
The industry experts highlighted the current scenario of digital disruption led by competitive marketing strategies & adoption of digital channels and technologies. They also discussed the key challenges existing in the ecosystem and their strategic move to counter the same. The event was attended by many top leaders in India, a list that includes eminent CTOs, CIOs, CXOs and media experts from different enterprises.
In entirety, the Summit focused on the adoption of digital transformation and its impact on the M&E industry. With the rapid internet penetration in the age of Smartphones and OTT platforms, online video consumption has been increasing significantly. This pragmatic shift urges M&E players to create new revenue models, distribute content on multiple devices and platforms, provide superior omni-channel experiences, and increase engagement.
Mittal stated, “We believe that the M&E players hold great potential to break barriers and create significant business opportunities. The idea behind conducting this event was to address all M&E enterprises that need to embrace digital transformation by exploring scalable technologies and re-inventing methodologies, to succeed in the highly competitive digital era.”
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.
