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Big TV to ramp up share in Maharashtra with local content
MUMBAI: Reliance ADAG’s DTH arm Big TV is beefing up its Marathi content to ramp up its market share in Maharashtra, which accounts for 20 per cent of its total subscriber base.
The company has decided to invest Rs 50 million towards acquisition of niche Marathi content, marketing activities including launch of a TVC, and consumer activation schemes.
Fuelled by a 25 per cent growth in Maharashtra over the last two quarters, Big TV is creating a special Marathi cinema showcase on its pay platform, launching specially designed Marathi packages and acquiring localised content by tapping into Marathi theatres.
The big idea: to drive deeper into Tier II and Tier III geographies. The company says it is looking at generating over 40 per cent of its overall subscriber base from these geographies.
Says Big TV CMO Umesh Rao, “The idea behind creating a special Marathi showcase is to give our audiences in Maharashtra a world class TV viewing experience at a value-based price proposition. Through these special Marathi offerings, our subscribers will gain benefit of a plethora of local programming while continuing to enjoy their favourite Marathi channels. On the business front, a specially designed Marathi showcase makes strategic sense enabling us to enhance our regional yields in Maharashtra across multiple revenue windows.”
Big TV has launched a new Marathi package comprising four Marathi channels – Zee Marathi, ETV Marathi, Star Pravah and Zee Talkies – for a monthly subscription of Rs 5, if Marathi is selected as a first language. It has also added a bouquet of Marathi channels like IBN Lokmat, Star Majha, DD Sahayadri and Mi Marathi to its base pack.
On the movie front, Big TV has launched a special Marathi cinema showcase on its pay platform. It has acquired the DTH rights of popular Marathi super-hits including Samantar, Paandhar, Housefull, Zapatlela and Aaplee Mansaa amongst others. These films are being showcased on its pay-per-view platform in February and are priced at Rs 50 per 24-hour view-pass.
Marathi theatre, very popular among Marathis, is another vehicle Big TV is using to woo subscribers. The DTH operator has signed an agreement for the rights of late Marathi playwright PL Deshpande’s stage plays. It allows Big TV to showcase the theatre works including his super-hit stage productions Nivadak Pula Deshpande – Volume 1 to 6, Batatyachi Chal, Pula Deshpande Ratnabhandar, Hasva Fasvi, Tee Phool Rani, and Kusum Manohar Lele. These stage-plays will premiere on Big TV’s pay platform from March onwards.
For marketing the Marathi-centric offerings, Big TV has roped in Marathi actor Ajinkya Deo for its new TVC. The TVC has been conceptualized by Ramesh Deo Productions and stresses on the “joy of owning a Big TV DTH service.”
Part of Big TV‘s future gameplan is to source Marathi serials and live shows.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
