MAM
‘How to beat Australia Contest’: Max’s ‘Johnnie Walker Super Series’ campaign
MUMBAI: With 24 days to go for the Johnnie Walker Super Series in Australia, Max, the movies and special events channel today kicked-off its campaign with a ‘How to beat Australia Contest.’ The contest commences on 10 September supported by a surround multi-media campaign.
The channel is beckoning cricket lovers across the country to participate in the contest by sending in their ideas on how to beat Australia. The ideas could be wild, whacky, funny and even serious. The owners of the best 11 ideas get a chance to fly to Australia for the upcoming ‘Johnnie Walker Super Series’ to be aired live on Max this October.
Commenting on Max’s initiative, Max business head and executive vice president Albert Almeida says, “Max as a channel has always believed in broad basing audiences for cricket. Max’s innovative approach with its presentation of the ICC World Cup resulted in expanding cricket viewership from predominantly male to females and children too. With the ICC Super Series Max intends to take this a step further and has designed a campaign that is involving and interactive for all its audiences. The launch of the contest gives everybody an opportunity to contribute their ideas and get a chance to witness a Cricketing Event that’s unparalleled.”
This contest is powered by Indiatimes.com. In order to enter the contest viewers need to log on to http://superseriesonmax.indiatimes.com. or SMS SS space their idea to 2525. The campaign for the contest will go on air across the Sony Entertainment Television network, Ten Sports and Channel 7. An extensive out of home campaign at Shopping malls, Multiplexes, Toll nakas and other populated spots across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkatta and Bangalore will encourage participation. An extensive van activity will cover the other towns across the country.
Max will telecast the Johnnie Walker Super Series cricket tournament in October 2005 live and exclusive. This tournament also marks for the first time ever a ‘Team of Champions’ comprising the best of the ‘Rest of the World’ who will take on the world’s top team, Australia, in both forms of the game – Test and ODI matches.
During this high action cricket season, Max will also offer its viewers the star studded ICC Awards 2005 to be telecast on 12 October 12.
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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.
