iWorld
Sandhya Devanathan joins Meta India as head and VP
Mumbai: Meta announced the appointment of Sandhya Devanathan as the vice president and head of Meta India. Devanathan will begin her new position on 1 January 2023. She will report directly to Meta APAC vice president Dan Neary.
Devanathan will transition to her new role on January 1, 2023 and will report to Dan Neary, Vice President, Meta APAC, and be a part of the APAC leadership team. She will return to India to oversee the India organisation and strategy, as per company statement.
With over 22 years of experience in banking, payments, and technology, Devanathan will focus on aligning the organisation’s business and revenue priorities in order to better serve its partners and clients, while also supporting Meta’s long-term growth and commitment to India. In her current role, she will spearhead the company’s India charter and strengthen strategic relationships with the country’s leading brands, creators, advertisers, and partners in order to drive Meta’s revenue growth in key channels in India.
In 2016, Meta appointed Devanathan to lead the growth of its Singapore and Vietnam businesses and teams, as well as its Southeast Asian e-commerce initiatives.
In 2020, she was promoted to lead gaming for APAC, one of Meta’s largest verticals globally. She also has a strong interest in developing female business leaders and is the executive sponsor for women in APAC at Meta, as well as the global lead for Play Forward, a global Meta initiative to improve diversity representation in the gaming industry. She is also a member of Pepper Financial Services’ global board of directors.
As per media reports, Meta chief business officer Marne Levine said on this new appointment, “India is at the forefront of digital adoption, and Meta has launched many of our top products, such as reels and business messaging, in India first. We are proud to have recently launched JioMart on WhatsApp, which is our first end-to-end shopping experience in India. I’m pleased to welcome Devanathan as our new leader for India. Devanathan has a proven track record of scaling businesses, building exceptional and inclusive teams, driving product innovation, and building strong partnerships. We are thrilled to have her lead Meta’s continued growth in India.”
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.
