MAM
Zoom kicks off cross promotional marketing initiatives
MUMBAI: The Times Group’s glamour & lifestyle channel Zoom seems to have got into an overdrive with its new marketing initiatives; the aim being to aggressively promote its weekend programmes. The new initiatives are being weaved around the top three channel drivers – Just Pooja, PopKorn and Page 3.
Elaborating on the marketing initiatives, Zoom head of consumer marketing Shailesh Kapoor says, “Our aim is to build viewer interactivity, so that watching our shows is not a passive activity. We are trying to do this with the help of various cross-promotional activities like contests, opinion polls and of course through the mobile route. To sustain viewer interest for Zoom, we are also doing things like flashing news headlines on the mobiles or some clippings, etc.”
The channel is also using all the strengths of the Times Group’s properties and the group’s sms line 8888 for the Times of India group. To take the brand forward, special properties are being created on the website Indiatimes where chats are conducted with celebrity anchors. In fact, a special Zoom website has been created to build a two-way communication.
Just to get a lowdown on the new initiatives planned; every episode of Page 3 has an auction of paraphrenalia used by Bollywood actors in different films that viewers can bid for over the Zoom website. The channel reveals in the past they have had viewers bidding for Hritikh Roshan’s jacket for Rs 10,000 and more.
The entertainment news show Popkorn now has a daily opinion poll with the names of the winners being published daily in the Bombay Times as well as the Delhi Times. A special contest has also been weaved around Just Pooja, where the winners get a dinner date with Pooja Bedi.
The popular show Kosmic Chat will now give an opportunity to viewers to get their forecast by popular tarot card reader Sunita Menon. Viewers can now sms their sun sign, birth place and time of birth. The channel will pick up 100 people who get a free forecast done by Sunita Menon.
Elaborating further Kapoor says, “Apart from creating a market buzz over a period of time, we also hope to cash in by way of revenues. We have already worked out revenue sharing terms with various mobile companies like Airtel & BPL. As of now we get more than 2 lakh (200,000) sms messages on the Times group’s 8888 sms line which will only keeps increasing with time.”
Apart from the marketing initiatives, Zoom has also tied up with Kingfisher Airlines for inflight telecast of its programing.
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.
