MAM
Yahoo! India launches ‘Mobile Mega Fest’
MUMBAI: Marking the 10th anniversary of it’s parent company, Yahoo! India today announced the Yahoo! Mobile Megafest, an offer for mobile users across the country. Staring 21 March , mobile consumers will get an opportunity of downloading select ringtones, wall papers, polyphonic tones, mobile games, logos and picture messages free of cost through the Yahoo! India shotcode 8243.
Yahoo has also tied up with all its cellular partners like Hutch, Orange in Mumbai, Airtel, Oasis Cellular, Escotel, Aircel, Spice and Dolphin in Mumbai for coming up with this never before mobile offer in the country. For entering into this world of free mobile content, all a consumer needs to do is: SMS the word ‘Free’ to 8243.
Yahoo! India Mobile head Vishal Maheshwari said, “Yahoo! India’s mobile content, whether its ringtones, wall papers or java games is becoming a craze among the mobile users. Yahoo being one of the first providers of Short code access content is keen to expand the market for content based services, both in terms of attracting non users as well as increasing the depth of consumption among existing subscribers. We feel the Yahoo! Mobile Megafest will accomplish a lot of good for the mobile community’s a whole in terms of expanding the market for mobile content.”
During the Yahoo! Mobile Megafest, consumers can download unlimited content from a chosen list; whether it’s ringtones from latest Bollywood tracks, or fast paced mobile games like Desert Rally or Banana split no download fee will be charged. Only standard operator charges for SMS to shortcode 8243 will apply during this Megafest.
Normal download costs vary (depending on the operator) from Rs. 7 – 10 for ringtones to Rs. 50 – 99 for mobile games. For wall papers the standard rate of download is Rs. 10, for polyphonic tones its Rs. 10 -15, while the rate for downloading a logo or a picture message could vary from Rs. 3 – 8. Consumers will be freed of these charges during the Yahoo! India Mobile MegaFest. The Yahoo! Mobile Megafest will be on from March 21st to March 31st 2005.
“I request all Yahoo! India mobile users to participate in the Mobile Megafest and make Yahoo!’s 10th Anniversary celebrations a huge success in India. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for mobile lovers.” concludes Maheshwari.
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.
