MAM
Onam kya? Malayalam TV channels set to reap the harvest
The biggest of all festivals in the land of kathakali and snake boats is here – Onam. Celebrated over a period of 10 days, Onam festivities reach the peak during the last three big days – this year on the 28, 29 and 30 of August, and the Malayalam television channels are gearing to have a crack at ad pie.
With Kerala’s harvest festival giving them the biggest opportunity to pull in the maximum ad revenue possible, the marketing arena of Malayalam television has been witnessing frantic activity. While leading channels have already reached their billing limit, second-line channels are putting their best efforts to meet the set targets.
Says Jeevan TV assistant marketing manager Krishna Kumar, “Yes, Onam is the biggest festival not only for Keralites but also for Malayalam television channels. The money advertisers shell out for these ten days is equal to the amount they normally spend during a three-month period.”
According to the regional television industry sources, the total ad market for the Onam season is valued at Rs 150 million (approx). Television owns more than half of it – approximately Rs 80 million, up 20 per cent from the TV ad spend during the previous season.
“We have got an extra billing of 30 to 40 per cent for Onam. From 27 August – 30 August, it is premium advertising on Asianet,” says Asianet general manager Anto Puthiry. According to Puthiry, all the national advertisers – especially white goods and FMCGs – are keen on Malayalam channels during the season.
Four-year-old Kairali TV has already raked in Rs 2.5 million for the final Onam days. According to Kairali TV regional head Sunil Nair, it is 75 per cent higher than the previous Onam billing. Jeevan TV has set a target of Rs 25 million as billing for the ten-day period. The channel claims that more than half of the set target is already achieved. News channel Indiavision expects to get richer by Rs 10 million (approx) by the end of the festive season.
Onam is valued as the best occasion for television advertising in Malayalam not only because of the emotional value attached to it. Channels capitalise on the ‘luxury’ of having more than one day to celebrate by getting the festive days branded by advertisers.
Asianet has 25 August to 29 August (five days) branded by Sony Vega, Kannan Devan Tea, Seemati Sari Sansar, Joy Alukkas Jewellers and De Beers respectively. Surya TV ‘s on-air promos show HLL’s herbal brand Ayush has branded the channel’s Onam programmes for 27 August and 28 August.
Asianet has roped in Alukkas Jewellers and Nestle India as main sponsors and Bajaj Auto and Yamaha Motors as associate sponsors. Sandpiper, Kannan Devan Tea, Johnson and Johnson and Kinetic Motors are some of the advertisers Kairali TV has signed up for the big occasion while Jeevan TV’s list includes Samsung, Sansui and Daewoo.
How national advertisers perceive the Onam market? Yamaha Motors India marketing manager Santosh Iyer says Onam season is the best opportunity to boost the sales as far as the Kerala market is concerned. According to Iyer, Yamaha is targeting a 20 per cent increase in its sales and is spending more ten per cent on advertising during the season.
“We do spend equally on print and TV during Onam. But TV is very cost-effective when it comes to building up the reach,” offers Iyer.
According to the 2003 TAM AdEx analysis for Onam advertising, Surya and Asianet were able to raise the revenues by over 100 per cent vis-?-vis previous days. Last year on the advertising front, jewellery topped the list followed by furnishings, fairness creams, corporate brand image and cellular phone service. Compared to last year, this season has more national advertisers making their presence felt in the Onam market, say industry observers.
Programming-wise, channels’ biggest bet during Onam is movies. There’s going to be television premiere galore of blockbuster movies on Malayalam television this time too. Surya TV and Asianet will be premiering four movies each. Most of the Onam programmes are woven around film stars, keeping in mind the target group’s passion for movies. Kairali TV brings film star interviews, blockbuster movies, music programmes, ground events, skits and comedy programmes for Onam, while Indiavision has lined up celebrity chat shows, star interviews, talk shows, musical programmes and ground events.
Indiavision chief marketing officer Issac Jacob says competing with general entertainment channels during Onam is tough. But he adds that the channel has a clear-cut programming strategy for Onam:
“Being a news channel, we may not be able to do what a general entertainment channel does during Onam. Understanding this, we have planned our Onam programming and I am sure that the strategy will work. We are trying to mop up as much revenue as possible during the season,” says Jacob.
Even on the occasion of the harvest festival, life surely is not a bed of flowers for Keralites – economically and politically. But it is harvest time for Malayalam channels and they are confident of the eyeballs they would be getting.
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.
