MAM
Star Sports campaign for Oz series focuses on new Team India
MUMBAI: As the India-Australia series approaches, Star Sports has launched a full-fledged campaign, with the core theme ‘Asli Test Baaki Hai‘, to promote the India-Australia Test series which gets under way in Chennai on 22 February.
McCann Worldwide Tag Ideation has designed the campaign for the series called as Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The television ads in the campaign have been shot by Red Ice Films.
The campaign is based on the concept that for Indians to idolise next generation of cricketers they need to prove their mettle on field with the Test series against Australia. It highlights the fervour of budding cricketers who would not take anything lying down.
The advent of new stars like Pujara, Ashwin, Kohli, Maxwell, Starc and Pattinson ensure that the series still remains a stern test of cricketing excellence. Hence the campaign line – ‘Asli Test Baaki Hai‘.
Star India COO Sanjay Gupta said, “Through the BCCI season we have been focusing on a new team India with its new set of heroes. While we applaud the new talent we are also cognizant that in the future they will have to face a lot of stern tests before they can truly become world beaters. The overarching creative thought comes out from this – ‘True heroes only emerge from the toughest battles‘.”
The sports broadcaster has also lined up an expert panel of cricketing stars for commentary as well as studio analysis on every match day in English (Star Cricket and Star Cricket HD) and Hindi (Star Sports). The commentary line-up includes legends like Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border.
“We‘re delighted to welcome VVS Laxman on board the Star Sports commentary, presentation and analysis team. He is famous for his prolific record against the Aussies,” Gupta added.
MWG Tag chief creative Ashish Chakravarty said, “The idea of the campaign is to highlight the increasing expectations of the viewers from the new team India. It is time for them to step up and showcase the nation that they can stand up to their expectations. In their unique and simple way, Red Ice Films translated this vision to reality.”
Red Ice Films‘ owner and founder Gary S said, “This campaign was challenging as it was an attempt to bring out the mindset of the audience. That they need to choose the first among equals, so the trick was to communicate that without passing a judgement on any talent.”
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.
