MAM
NGC has planed a media buzz for the next big budget ‘Mission Mars’
MUMBAI: Guess what it pays to package. After the success of Mission Everest, National Geographic Channel has announced its next big programming and marketing initiative Mission Mars. The infotainment channel plans to invest $ 2 million for the initiative.
In a bid to spread the spirit of exploration and adventure, the latest initiative Mission Mars is another big step towards emphasizing the channel’s positioning as the provider of wholesome, credible entertainment, says a company release.
Scheduled to air in January 2004, to coincide with Nasa’s probes landing on Mars, the special will provide an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Nasa. The channel will also offer a special peek into works of the scientists at the Jet propulsion laboratory in California, the masterminds of the Mars space program.
The programme will include new images from the probes that will shed more light the on the question that haunts astronomers and scientists the world over. NGC’s Mars special is scheduled as a global television event taking armchair viewers on a thrilling ride through space.
According to National Geographic Channel managing director Zubin Gandevia, “Mission Mars is our biggest initiative after Mission Everest. This programme reinforces our endeavour to make exploration and adventure a part of our viewers’ lives”.
Taking an inspiration from Mission Everest’s success, which was instrumental in broad basing the channel’s viewership and increasing advertising revenues, Mission Mars is the next significant property for the infotainment channel. It will connect directly with its viewers through interactive elements and viewer participation and also provide the advertisers with an enduring property to associate with.
According to the release,Mission Mars as a platform is likely to increase the channel viewership by 20 per cent as compared to Mission Everest and boost advertising revenues by 40 -50 per cent. It plans to target both viewers and advertisers with exciting outreach programmes by formulating on air, on ground and online events around the initiative.
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.
