iWorld
ALT Digital hires Viacom18’s Ekalavya Bhattacharya as chief strategy officer
MUMBAI: Balaji Telefilms’ digital arm ALT Digital Media Entertainment has brought on board Ekalavya Bhattacharya as chief strategy officer.
Prior to this, Bhattacharya was with Viacom18 as AVP and head – digital for MTV India, where he was responsible for expanding the channel’s digital footprint.
He will work closely with the company’s leadership team to define the corporate strategy for ensuring wider acceptability and success of ALT’s digital initiatives.
Balaji Telefilms group CEO Sameer Nair said, “Ekalavya comes with very strong pedigree having done some amazing work at MTV in building their digital business. We believe his disruptive attitude and business smarts are a wonderful addition to the eclectic diversity in the fast growing ALT Digital Team.”
ALT Digital Media Entertainment CEO Nachiket Pantvaidya added, “We welcome Ekalavya to ALT – his experience and diverse skill sets will help us formulate and drive our strategy across our business operations. He will enrich the already strong team at ALT as we prepare to launch our service in India and globally.”
Bhattacharya said, “Recent digital consumption patterns have made it necessary to introduce changes in the way content is created and offered to consumers and screenagers. As India’s leading production studio, Balaji Telefilms is in a unique position to utilise its creative capabilities for a digitally savvy audience. I am glad to be a part of ALT that stands for the alternate – alternate content and alternate screens.”
Bhattacharya brings with him more than a decade of experience in the digital space and has previously worked at digital firms like Zapak.com, Contests2Win.com, WAT Consult and PaGaLGuY.com.
iWorld
Micro-Dramas Surge in India, Redefining Mobile Content Habits
Meta-Ormax study maps rapid rise of short-form storytelling among 18–44 audiences.
MUMBAI: Micro-dramas aren’t just short, they’re the snack that ate Indian entertainment, and now everyone’s bingeing between the sofa cushions. Meta, in partnership with Ormax Media, has released ‘Micro Dramas: The India Story’, a comprehensive study unveiled at the inaugural Meta Marketing Summit: Micro-Drama Edition. The report maps how the vertical, bite-sized format is reshaping content consumption for mobile-first audiences aged 18–44 across 14 states.
Conducted between November 2025 and January 2026 through 50 in-depth interviews and 2,000 personal surveys, the research reveals that 65 per cent of viewers discovered micro-dramas within the last year proof of explosive adoption. Nearly 89 per cent encounter the format through social feeds and recommendations, making algorithm-driven discovery the primary engine rather than active search.
Key viewing patterns show a median of 3.5 hours per week (about 30 minutes daily) spread across 7–8 short sessions. Consumption peaks between 8 pm and midnight, with additional spikes during commutes and work breaks classic “in-between moments” that the format fills perfectly. Around 57 per cent of viewing happens in ambient mode (while doing something else), and 90 per cent is solo, enabling more intimate, personal storytelling.
Romance, family drama and comedy lead genre preferences. Audiences show growing openness to AI-generated content, 47 per cent find it unique and creative, while only 6 per cent say they would avoid it entirely. Regional languages are surging after Hindi and English, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada dominate consumption.
Meta, director, media & entertainment (India) Shweta Bajpai said, “Micro-drama isn’t a passing trend, it’s rewriting the rules of Indian entertainment. In under a year, an entirely new category of platforms has emerged, built audience habits from scratch, and created a business vertical that is scaling fast.”
Ormax Media founder-CEO Shailesh Kapoor added, “Micro-dramas are beginning to show the early signs of becoming a distinct content category in India’s digital entertainment landscape. When a format aligns closely with how audiences naturally engage with their devices, it has the potential to scale very quickly.”
The study proposes ecosystem-wide responsibility, universal signposting of commercial intent, shared accountability among advertisers, platforms, creators, schools and parents, built-in safeguards, and formal media literacy in schools.
In a feed that never sleeps and a day that never stops, micro-dramas have slipped into the cracks of every spare minute turning 30-second stories into the new national pastime, one vertical swipe at a time.
