Digital
Anand Makhija to helm OneNative Advertising as VP of operations and strategy
Mumbai: OneNative Advertising, a leading integrated digital media advertising company, has appointed Anand Makhija as their vice president of operations and strategy. With over 14 years of experience in the adtech industry, Makhija brings a wealth of knowledge in programmatic, partnerships, and ad-operations from both the client and publisher sides. His impressive track record includes notable stints at Sharechat, Outbrain, and Komli Media.
Before joining OneNative Advertising, Makhija played a pivotal role in leading programmatic revenue and partnerships for Sharechat. Prior to that, he served as Outbrain’s director of business development for Engage in India, where he successfully forged and strengthened relationships with esteemed publishers in the region.
About the new role, Makhija said, “I am thrilled and honored to take on this responsibility. India has always been a crucial market for adtech platforms, and we are witnessing continuous growth and evolution each year. It’s a great privilege to be part of this thriving ecosystem, and I am eager to leverage my experience and expertise in contributing to the growth of OneNative. I am looking forward to working together with the OneNative team to achieve new heights.”
Makhija began his career with Komli Media, where he spent nearly six years in publishing management and media planning, honing his skills and building a strong foundation in the industry.
Established six years ago, OneNative Advertising has grown to become a significant player in the digital media advertising landscape. Headquartered in Mumbai, the company has offices in Delhi, Bangalore, and Singapore.
The team at OneNative believes Anand’s rich experience in the supply side, programmatic advertising as well as ability to work with teams across borders will add great value to OneNative’s plans for the future.
OneNative Advertising co-founder and director Deepak Karnani said, “We’re happy to have Anand on board. He comes with the right mix of experience on the supply side, platforms as well as programmatic channels. This will help us pursue the growth we are targeting as well as help us with new initiatives beyond native advertising. Anand will be working closely with the core team of OneNative in driving the new initiatives in India & South East Asia.”
Primarily into native advertising and content marketing, OneNative is also rapidly moving into the emerging media space, which includes Connected TV and DOOH. This is over and above their partnership with WeTransfer Advertising in India and programmatic advertising solutions which OneNative Advertising currently provides across the digital media 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.
