iWorld
GUEST COLUMN: Convergence is India’s next media leap
India’s television industry has moved beyond the survival debate into a leadership phase defined by convergence. Written by Zee Entertainment Enterprises chief revenue officer Laxmi Shetty, it explores the rise of the “Integrated Attention Era”, where television, OTT and digital platforms work in tandem to deliver both scale and relevance. The piece analyses changing viewer behaviour, renewed trust in television, the mainstreaming of regional content, and advertisers’ move towards unified, journey-led planning. It also looks at how IP-first storytelling, collaboration, addressable advertising and AI are reshaping monetisation and measurement, arguing that television’s future lies in integration rather than competition with digital media.
MUMBAI: For over a decade, the industry debated whether television would survive the digital wave. In 2026, the question is no longer about survival: it is about leadership.
India is entering a phase where television is not being replaced, but re- architected. The future belongs to platforms that can connect mass reach with personal relevance, and scale with intimacy. This is where convergence stops being a buzzword and becomes a growth engine.
As 2025 came to a close, India’s media and entertainment ecosystem moved into what I call the Integrated Attention Era: a phase where consumer time, trust and intent flow seamlessly across screens rather than being siloed by platforms. Digital streaming continued to expand rapidly, yet television retained its role as the country’s most powerful cultural and commercial anchor.
Linear television today reaches close to three-quarters of a billion Indians every week. That scale is matched by trust. Television continues to shape national conversations from marquee sporting events and reality formats to movies and news. Importantly, trust in television advertising among 18–34-year-olds has risen sharply in recent years, reaffirming that credibility is becoming as valuable as reach in an attention-scarce environment.
At Zee, this trust advantage plays out every day across a deeply regional, multi-genre network that speaks to India in its many languages. In a fragmented media landscape, this ability to deliver shared moments at scale remains television’s most under-appreciated strength.
From Dual Budgets to Unified Funnels
In 2025, advertiser investments in television were concentrated around tentpole sports and large event properties, often planned alongside digital extensions. While digital platforms added frequency and interactivity, it was television that consistently delivered reach, attention and long-term memory. As a result, marketers began shifting from platform-led planning to what we describe as One Funnel Thinking, where television and digital are orchestrated as complementary forces rather than competing line items.
This shift reflects a broader consumer reality. The explosion of content and subscriptions has created a paradox of choice. Decision fatigue is now a real barrier to engagement, especially in urban India. Scheduled television, with its familiar rhythm and effortless discovery, has re- emerged as a low-friction way to unwind and connect. OTT adoption continues to grow, now crossing 600 million users, but audiences increasingly choose when to control and when to surrender control.
In the Indian context of multi-generational households, this distinction is critical. Television remains the Living Room Anchor, uniting families across age groups, while OTT platforms serve as personalised escapes. The future is not TV versus OTT, it is TV and OTT, each playing a distinct role in the viewer’s daily rhythm.
Regional India: From Reach to Resonance
One of the most defining shifts of 2025 was the rise of regional India from a segmented market to the new mainstream. Viewers across states leaned into culturally rooted storytelling in their own languages: on broadcast as well as streaming. Regional channels saw stronger appointment viewing, while OTT platforms increased investments in local originals, dubbing and subtitling.
This is where broadcast’s decades-long expertise becomes a strategic advantage. At Zee, regional storytelling has never been an afterthought it has been the foundation. Our deep understanding of socio-cultural nuances across markets allows content to resonate across generations and travel across states. Increasingly, regional IPs are evolving into what we term.
Cultural Franchises, properties that scale across languages, formats and platforms, delivering longer shelf life and diversified monetisation.
For advertisers, this has fundamentally changed the playbook. National brands are moving away from uniform communication toward State-First Brand Building, combining sharp local relevance with national consistency. Regional media delivers a rare combination of high reach and contextual alignment: expanding the very definition of mainstream India.
2026: The Year of Collaborative Media
As we look ahead, 2026 will be defined by collaboration. Growth will come from breaking silos and building Connected Content Ecosystems: where television, OTT, digital and social work in unison.
Consumer behaviour already points the way. Discovery increasingly begins on social and short-form platforms, sampling happens through clips and highlights, and deep engagement shifts to the screen that fits the moment—often the television screen for family viewing and live events. Winning in this environment requires what we call Journey-Led Distribution: following the viewer across touchpoints rather than optimising for a single platform.
This makes partnerships essential. Broadcasters, streamers, brands and technology platforms will increasingly co-create IP, co-invest in launches and co-distribute content. Shared measurement frameworks, interoperable ad-tech and privacy-first data collaboration will be critical to scale addressable solutions responsibly. At Zee, we see this as moving from media transactions to Media Alliances—built on shared outcomes rather than isolated metrics.
IP-Led Storytelling and Smarter Monetisation
TV and OTT integration is also accelerating beyond distribution toward IP-First Storytelling. Franchises are no longer designed for a single window. A strong property today must function simultaneously as a television appointment, an OTT catch-up, a social conversation and a brand integration canvas—each layer reinforcing the other.
This approach not only expands reach but increases lifetime value while reducing risk. It also reshapes how talent, formats and brands collaborate—unlocking extensions into short-form content, live events, gaming, commerce and community engagement.
Monetisation models will evolve accordingly. Cross-screen packages that combine television’s scale with digital’s addressability will become standard. For marketers, disciplined frequency management and creative consistency across touchpoints will be non-negotiable. Revenue will increasingly come from a balanced mix of advertising, subscriptions and micro-transactions—tailored to audience cohorts and genre dynamics.
Technology as the Multiplier
Technology will be the multiplier that powers this convergence. Data, AI and distribution innovation are already transforming content creation, localisation and discovery. At Zee, AI is being deployed across subtitling,
dubbing, promo optimisation and audience insights. The next phase will see AI guiding greenlighting, scheduling and creative versioning—improving both efficiency and effectiveness.
With connected TV penetration rising, addressable advertising is set to scale rapidly. Industry forecasts suggest addressable could account for over 16 percent of TV ad revenue by 2026—bringing digital-like precision to television without compromising its unmatched scale.
The Road Ahead
The outlook for 2026 is constructive. As macro conditions stabilise, marketers will prioritise dependable reach, smarter targeting and measurable returns. Television will remain central—especially in regional India and around marquee moments—but its true power will lie in how well it integrates with the wider ecosystem.
The future belongs to companies that think of content as long-term IP, distribution as a network of partnerships, and technology as a strategic enabler. By embracing convergence and putting the consumer at the centre, Indian television—in all its new avatars—will not just endure. It will lead.
“In 2026, growth will not come from choosing between TV and digital. It will come from designing ecosystems where scale meets relevance, and mass media becomes meaningful media and Robust, Transparent and
Interoperable measurement will unlock the true value of cross-screen engagements.”
Gaming
Bluestone FY26 revenue rises to Rs 2,436 crore, turns profitable
Q4 profit at Rs 31 crore, full-year profit at Rs 13 crore vs loss last year.
MUMBAI: From sparkle to numbers, Bluestone seems to be polishing more than just jewellery this year. Bluestone Jewellery and Lifestyle Limited reported a sharp turnaround in FY26, with revenue from operations rising to Rs 2,436 crore (Rs 24,364 million), up from Rs 1,770 crore (Rs 17,700 million) in FY25. The company posted a full-year profit of Rs 13 crore (Rs 131.79 million), a significant recovery from a loss of Rs 222 crore (Rs 2,218 million) a year ago.
Total income for the year stood at Rs 2,486 crore (Rs 24,860 million), compared to Rs 1,830 crore (Rs 18,300 million) in the previous year, reflecting both topline growth and improved operational momentum.
The March quarter, however, told a more nuanced story. Revenue from operations came in at Rs 681 crore (Rs 6,814 million), down from Rs 748 crore (Rs 7,486 million) in the year-ago period, though higher than Rs 461 crore (Rs 4,613 million) in the preceding December quarter. Net profit for Q4 stood at Rs 31 crore (Rs 311.81 million), compared to Rs 68 crore (Rs 688 million) a year earlier, but a clear reversal from a loss of Rs 51 crore (Rs 512 million) in Q3.
Margins were shaped by higher input costs, with raw material consumption rising to Rs 2,204 crore (Rs 22,043 million) for the full year, alongside employee benefit expenses of Rs 282 crore (Rs 2,824 million) and finance costs of Rs 210 crore (Rs 2,104 million). Other expenses came in at Rs 371 crore (Rs 3,715 million), slightly lower than Rs 393 crore (Rs 3,938 million) in FY25.
On the balance sheet front, total assets expanded to Rs 4,961 crore (Rs 49,610 million) as of March 31, 2026, from Rs 3,532 crore (Rs 35,322 million) a year earlier, driven largely by a surge in inventories to Rs 2,672 crore (Rs 26,718 million). Equity also strengthened to Rs 1,803 crore (Rs 18,030 million), nearly doubling from Rs 911 crore (Rs 9,107 million).
Cash flows reflected the cost of growth. Net cash used in operating activities stood at Rs 199 crore (Rs 1,990 million), while investing activities saw an outflow of Rs 239 crore (Rs 2,392 million). Financing activities, however, generated Rs 497 crore (Rs 4,971 million), helping the company end the year with cash and cash equivalents of Rs 108 crore (Rs 1,075 million), up from Rs 49 crore (Rs 487 million).
Earnings per share for FY26 came in at Rs 1.10, a sharp improvement from a negative Rs 79.74 in FY25, underlining the shift from losses to profitability.
With revenue scaling up, costs still glittering on the higher side, and profitability finally back in the black, BlueStone’s FY26 performance suggests a business mid-transition less about shine alone, and more about sustaining it.
