MAM
Rohit Ohri to join FCB Ulka as group chairman & CEO
MUMBAI: Former Dentsu Asia Pacific CEO Rohit Ohri, who recently stepped down from his post, is all set to join FCB Ulka India as group chairman and CEO, effective January 2016.
Ohri will be the successor to current CEO and group chairman Nagesh Alai who, after 25 years with FCB, is moving into a global role.
Alai will assume the role of global vice-chairman at FCB, working on special initiatives for FCB worldwide CEO Carter Murray. With FCB’s newly restructured global company, Ohri will serve as a member of the global operating committee and report directly to Murray in New York. He will be one of the CEOs helping to guide the global company.
“I want to thank Nagesh for dedicating his career to our FCB operations in India and for helping FCB Ulka become one of the strongest agencies in the country. I look forward to working with him on special global initiatives,” said Murray.
“When Nagesh and the Board introduced me to Rohit as someone they felt fitted the culture of the company, I was struck by his passion for what we do, his focus on great work and strong client relationships, and his natural gravitas. If you add his track record in the industry, Rohit is someone whom I think will lead FCB Ulka forward with vision and energy, and keep the flame strong,” he added.
“FCB has gone back to its roots and is reigniting its brand essence under Carter’s leadership. The opportunity to partner with him, in what could be the most defining time in the history of FCB convinced me to quit my regional assignment and come back to India,” said Ohri.
“FCB Ulka has a rich legacy of creating solid brand-building work. It’s a company that values partnerships, people and culture. The opportunity to build on this legacy and to take a great agency to greater heights is truly exciting. I’m delighted to be at the right place at the right time and with the right people,” he added.
Ohri will be supported by FCB Ulka’s management board, which includes Lodestar Media executive director and Mediabrands CEO Shashi Sinha, Interface Communications and Asterii Analytics executive director Niteen Bhagwat, FCB Ulka Mumbai and Bengaluru, FCBi and Cogito executive director MG Parameswaran and FCB Ulka Delhi executive director Arvind Wable.
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.
