Event Coverage
News channel dilemma: Fun only currency for stickiness?
MUMBAI: Reasonable men confronting unreasonable challenges. In the pursuit of more eyeballs – and by extension ad revenues – content of most Hindi news channels are increasingly driven by entertainment, sports and cinema stories. Agreeing that the face of TV news in India is changing, TV Today Network CEO G Krishnan says, “Hard news co-exists with tabloid coverage. Fun seems to be the only currency for stickiness.” |
At the session “Is News Entertainment: changing face of television,” news broadcasters said that there is an overlap of commerce and journalism among news channels. News channels are heavily dependent on ad revenue as subscription revenue is very low. The ad revenue size of Hindi news channel is Rs 6 billion while that of English news channel is only Rs 2 billion, NDTV India executive editor Sanjay Ahirwal points out. Sahara Samay MD Rajeev Bajaj argued that in the last five to six years, there has been a paradigm shift of news content. It is the viewers‘ taste that matters. News content is driven by stories which affect the viewers. Therefore, a story on Khali and Rakhi Sawant is as important. Said Bajaj, “With increasing aspirations, viewers‘ choice of content is changing.” |
Sounding a cautionary note, senior journalist Satinder Bindra warned that the trend of news broadcasters increasing the number of entertainment stories on their networks would lead to questions about their credibility. “Once credibility is lost it can never be retrieved,” Bindra said. “Almost all the news channels carry the same story with an ‘exclusive‘ tag. The news consumer feel betrayed. The news channel then lose credibility,” Bindra says. |
Event Coverage
Anime India announces Amazon MX Player as co-presenting partner for Anime India Kolkata 2026
MUMBAI: Riding high on the success of its blockbuster Mumbai debut, Anime India is accelerating its nationwide expansion with the announcement of Amazon MX Player as the co-presenting partner for Anime India Kolkata. The partnership marks a significant step forward in the festival’s mission to deliver large-scale, accessible, and fan-first anime experiences across the country.
Scheduled for 14 and 15 February 2026 at the iconic Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan, Anime India Kolkata will launch the first regional chapter of what is set to be a year-long, multi-city tour. As the curtain-raiser for the 2026 circuit, the Kolkata edition aims to fuse the energy of global Japanese pop culture with India’s fast-growing community of anime, manga, and pop-culture fans.
A household name in digital entertainment, Amazon MX Player brings unmatched reach and cultural relevance to the Anime India platform. With its expanding focus on anime and youth-driven content, Amazon MX Player’s involvement as co-presenting partner reinforces Anime India’s vision of making anime culture more inclusive breaking barriers of language, geography, and accessibility to connect with fans nationwide.
Anime India Kolkata 2026 will showcase cosplay competitions, interactive zones led by the Indian Gunpla Community, India-39 Vocaloid Community, The Japan Curry, and Adda-o-Otaku by The Otaku Guild. Fans can join tournaments across fighting games, Pokémon VGC, and more. Acclaimed Japanese director Susumu Mitsunaka (Haikyu!!) will attend as guest of honour, appearing in panels and live sessions. Positioned as an immersive celebration of fan culture and industry collaboration, the Kolkata edition marks the beginning of Anime India’s nationwide expansion.
Sharing their perspective on the partnership, Amazon MX Player director Aruna Daryanani expressed, “Anime in India has evolved from a niche interest into a mainstream cultural movement, driven by an increasingly engaged and passionate fanbase. At Amazon MX Player, our focus is on expanding access by bringing anime to audiences across the country for free and in multiple local languages. Our association with Anime India reflects our commitment to supporting the growth of anime in India and deepening connections with fans, while continuing to build Amazon MX Player as a trusted destination for free, high-quality entertainment.”
“Anime India Kolkata is a celebration of how anime has grown beyond entertainment into a powerful cultural and creative force. By bringing fans, creators, and industry leaders onto one shared platform, the festival is helping define the future of pop culture in India,” said Anime India co-founder and director Neha Mehta.
The debut edition of Anime India 2025 in Mumbai attracted over 29,000 fans, quickly cementing its status as a landmark celebration of anime and Japanese pop culture. Riding on this overwhelming response, the Kolkata chapter is projected to draw more than 40,000 visitors across two days, positioning it as one of the biggest anime conventions ever held in eastern India.
Anime India is focused on bringing together fans from across the country to create a truly pan-India celebration of anime, manga, cosplay, gaming, and Japanese culture. With plans to expand into four key metropolitan hubs in 2026—east (Kolkata), north (Delhi), west (Mumbai), and south (Hyderabad)—the festival seeks to deliver globally benchmarked experiences while supporting and uplifting creators, artists, and fan communities throughout India.
