MAM
USA Network plans multimedia campaign for WWE
MUMBAI: American cable network USA Network has planned a multimedia campaign to promote World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) which recently returned to it. In India WWE action airs on ten Sports.
USA and WWE have teamed up on an intense, coordinated and integrated multimedia marketing campaign. Raw will air on USA Network from 3 October 2005.
USA Network plans to unleash a flurry of promotional activity around the WWE’s return to it that includes leveraging all of its NBC Universal assets. A live-action, scripted campaign in which Raw superstars pay tribute to a typical family’s moving day starring WWE chairman Vince McMahon, along with superstars Triple H, John Cena, Torrie Wilson, Carlito, Kurt Angle and Rowdy Roddy Piper. Spots will be featured on USA, across all NBCU networks and other male-targeted cable channels. To view the spots one can go to usanetwork.com. There is also a print campaign featuring Superstars “away from the ring” shot by photographer Martin Schoeller.
Over 5,450 movie screens across the US will air 30-second trailers. Universal Studio’s City Walk in Orlando and Hollywood will host viewing parties for the 3 October launch. The NBC Experience Store will display signage, sell WWE memorabilia and host an autograph session with WWE Champion John Cena.
NBC is also conducting the Raw Ringside Sweepstakes. This offers winners roundtrip airfare, three nights hotel accommodations and a Meet and Greet with WWE Superstars and Divas at the 2006 Royal Rumble.
Pizza lovers will receive nearly 500,000 branded pizza boxes from selected pizzerias across the US depicting some of the WWE’s most famous superstars. Traditional radio, television and print ads will be in play including an aggressive online presence on Yahoo!, gaming, sports and entertainment sites, as well as usanetwork.com. Street Teams will canvass the urban landscape by distributing more than 500,000 WWE trading cards with Superstar tattoos.
On 3 October 2005 the Raw edition will see legends and current Superstars slated to appear. They include Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Mick Foley, Triple H, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Vince McMahon as well as Cena. Immediately following Raw’s premiere, USA will air a one-hour Raw special on the programme’s greatest moments over the past 10 years.
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.
