News Broadcasting
International Art Machine forays into India, unveils content lineup
Mumbai: International Art Machine helmed by Roy Price has entered the Indian market and acquired the rights for the adaptation of the book series ‘The Shiva Trilogy’ penned by author Amish Tripathi.
The first installment of the book “The Immortals of Meluha” will be translating into a digital series for audiences across the globe. The studio has brought in Oscar-winning filmmaker Shekhar Kapur to direct and Suparn S Varma as the showrunner and director of the series.
Moreover, the studio plans to work on a political thriller with Dibakar Banerjee and a dramedy helmed by Preity G Zinta.
“The premise of International Art Machine is that we are entering a new peak era for Asian original cinema and television,” said International Art Machine CEO Roy Price. “Everything we do supports that vision. India in particular, with its many people and stories, is poised to be a leader in a new multi-polar entertainment world. I could not imagine a better project to start IAM’s life than Shiva, and there is no better dream team to fully realize the potential of Amish’s novels than Shekhar Kapur and Suparn S. Verma. It was meant to be! At International Art Machine our goal is to partner with creators across Asia to produce series that will be game-changers at home and successfully carry the banner of Asian originals abroad. We are very excited about ‘Shiva,’ ‘The Kitty Party’ with Preity G Zinta and ‘Gods’ with Dibakar Banerjee as our first slate in India.”
“Amish’s Shiva trilogy has been India’s great publishing sensation, crossing every age and class. It’s not just mythology, it’s modern storytelling at its best. Lending itself to a beautiful international series,” said director-producer Shekhar Kapur.
Translated across 20 languages to cater to its colossal demand, Amish Tripathi’s Shiva trilogy is the fastest-selling book series in Indian history.
“One couldn’t have asked for a better team than this to take my books into the audio-visual world,” said Amish Tripathi. “Shekhar is an Oscar-winning filmmaker who is among the best living Indian directors. Roy is among the most successful Hollywood executives, having created Emmy and BAFTA-winning series. Suparn is one of the finest young writer-directors in modern India, having helmed the critically acclaimed and hugely successful Family Man 2. I am sure that with a team like this, we will create a web series that is worthy of Lord Shiva.”
“The Meluha trilogy by Amish Tripathi is a genre-defining book and has become part of the pop culture of the country,” commented Suparn S Varma. “I loved the reimagining and the world-building involving two of my favorite gods! The scale of vision and the ambition of our show visually and emotionally is as huge a task but we want to bring to audiences a vision that has never been seen before on screens.”
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
