MAM
Baywatch babe Pamela lifts Bigg Boss’ ratings up
MUMBAI: Pamela Anderson’s entry into the Bigg Boss house has raised the ratings – some people say even the temperature – of the primetime reality show that has caught the government attention for its raunchy content.
The day the Baywatch babe made her appearance, dressed in a saree (India‘s traditional attire), the show got a boost. Bigg Boss earned a rating of 4.72 compared to the previous day‘s TVR of 3.46, as per Tam data for Hindi speaking markets (4+, C&S homes).
Next day, the busty babe did the cleaning up in the house, wearing a sarong. And, as expected, neither the ratings nor her sarong fell (4.69 TVR).
Hindi general entertainment channel Colors decided to heat things up further by making Anderson dance to the tune of “Dhak Dhak Karne Laga”. And voila, ratings were up again, this time to 4.72 TVR.
Even the day when Anderson bid the show adieu, viewers flocked to catch a last glimpse of her. The Saturday show clocked a TVR of 4.28.
For the week ended 20 November, Bigg Boss enjoyed an average TVR of 4.21. In the two trailing weeks, when Anderson was not there, the show clocked average TVRs of 3.22 and 3.61.
Colors has reportedly paid Anderson Rs 25 million for her four-day guest appearance, which it has recovered in the form of publicity and ratings.
Many media observers debate if the decision of spending big monies on one international celebrity was a wise one. Some say it will not help the show and it is a bad decision, while some counter by saying that the publicity itself was worth millions of rupees.
“The rating of Bigg Boss was falling, which is normal for a show like this. So Colors would have had to put money in promoting the show. Instead, it has invested in Anderson and got a spike in ratings,” a media observer said.
The show also helped Colors consolidate its second position in the Hindi general entertainment space. The channel added 11 GRPs (gross rating points) during the week ended 20 November to end at 291 GRPs.
The genre leader Star Plus dropped marginally to 354 GRPs (from 373 GRPs), while Zee TV was at third spot with 208 GRPs (from 205 GRPs in week before).
Sony Entertainment Television shed 20 GRPs during the week and remained in fourth position with 169 GRPs. The threat it may have is from its sister channel Sab, which is steadily growing and has reached 145 GRPs.
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.
