MAM
Zee TV rolls out marketing campaign for paranormal show Fear Files
MUMBAI: Zee TV has launched a 360 degree marketing campaign to promote its new paranormal show Fear Files that will premiere on 30 June.
The channel is promoting the show through print ads, ambient branding, DTH, viral marketing, cinema hall promotion, digital and social media. Also, differentiated augmented reality has been designed to maximise engagement while following an integrated marketing approach.
As a part of the BTL activity, Zee TV will capture the audiences across malls and create an experience with augmented reality that uses computer graphics and sensors. There will be huge LED screens placed in these areas and people who come near the marked zone will experience something that is intended to surprise them and create a huge sense of intrigue.
The online promotions will be centred on giving viewers a paranormal experience rather than just telling a scary tale. Internet users will be captured across various sites with captivating messages. The channel has planned a social network activity that will allow users to share their own experiences by writing in stories and upload videos. Paranormal expert Mehra Shrikhande will share daily tips and feedback to online users.
The DTH promotional plan has ads and promos that will be played on Dish TV, Airtel DTH and Tata Sky.
Cinema hall promotions have begun with the launch of movie ‘The Amazing Spiderman’ to tap kids and male audiences. Apart from the promos running inside the movie screen, the washrooms will carry ambient branding. The channel claims that print medium will also see “innovative and attention grabbing” advertising.
The Facebook page of the show will also let viewers share their views and thoughts on various aspects. Micro-blogging sites like Twitter will keep the community of Fear Files viewers up-to-date on all on the shows.
Zeel marketing head- national channels Akash Chawla said, “The biggest challenge that the marketing team had to surmount was to evoke the emotion of ‘thrill’ from its target audience. The show has intrigue and mystery as its core and these are the two factors taken forward in its marketing campaign also. Hence, keeping in mind the primary target audience of the show, promotions are centred around online and new media along with traditional media mix. The communication across every medium will aim to tease people with the fear of the unknown and give
them a thrilling experience.”
The 26 episode series is based on paranormal experiences in one’s life and will air every Saturday and Sunday at 10.30 pm.
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.
