CREATORS AI ECOSYSTEM
The media landscape is undergoing a major disruption, and for marketers, that means reevaluating how content is created, delivered, and measured. The 9th Edition of The Content Hub Summit 2025 comes at a pivotal time, focusing on the core challenges facing the industry: bridging the gap between shrinking legacy media consumption and growing digital fatigue.
AI and the new creator economy
With the rise of new creators, the explosive growth of local content, and the mainstreaming of AI-generated content, audience consumption habits are transforming at breakneck speed. The summit will dive into the marketing technology solutions that can help brands adapt, including how to ethically and effectively integrate AI into their content strategies. For martech professionals, understanding AI’s role in content generation—and establishing the right ethical principles—is crucial for maintaining brand trust and relevance.
Strategic innovation for sustained growth
Amid this rapid change, the summit will address how marketers can build strategic resilience through innovation. Key topics include mastering franchise-building and harnessing the changing attention of audiences. The conversation will focus on technology-powered strategies and data-driven campaigns that guarantee content remains useful, relevant, and engaging for ever-evolving consumer needs.
For marketers looking to navigate the new content ecosystem, the 9th Content Hub Summit will explore how to use the latest martech tools to:
Overcome the challenge of declining traditional media and digital burnout.
Leverage new content types, from local creators to AI-generated content.
Build brand franchises with strategic, resilient content campaigns.
Ethically integrate AI into content workflows.
Ensure content remains relevant to changing audience needs and demands.
In honor of the rich cultural heritage of India and to mark the commencement of the sessions at the content hub, a traditional lamp lighting ceremony was conducted. This ceremonial act holds deep symbolic significance, representing the dispelling of darkness and ignorance and ushering in knowledge, wisdom, and enlightenment. This auspicious ritual set the tone for the sessions ahead, encouraging participants to engage in meaningful discussions, exchange ideas, and foster a spirit of cooperation.
The key takeaways from the #TCH2025 keynote presentation “Reclaiming Bold: Why Indian Entertainment Must Dare Again” by Alok Jain, Jiostar.:
Indian Entertainment: Ultra-FMCG and Low Success Probability
The entertainment industry resembles “ultra-FMCG” because creators invest years making content, but its success or failure is decided by viewers within minutes.
The probability of success for any new content is extremely low, making risk-taking essential for progress.
Internal Challenges to Boldness
There are persistent headwinds:
“I am the world” mindset: Much of Indian content is limited to stories and outlooks from Delhi and Mumbai, ignoring the vast diversity of the country.
Over-reliance on past success: The industry often tries to replicate formulas, mistakenly believing only proven ideas work, which stifles innovation.
Entry barriers: Strict industry gatekeeping blocks new voices with creative ideas, despite a democratization of content creation via technology.
Equating “big” with “big budget”: Excessive focus on budgets discourages innovation, while high costs suppress risk-taking for new ideas.
India’s Structural Strengths & Entertainment Market Scale
India has massive potential with 1.44 billion people, over 60% under age 35, and huge diversity across languages and cultures.
The entertainment sector is growing on all fronts: TV has the world’s largest viewer base, the biggest movie output, and approximately half a billion OTT users.
Television still dominates content and viewer engagement, with 850 million monthly TV viewers and over 190,000 hours of content annually, fueling mass screen consumption across platforms.
Television and Cinema Aren’t Dead
Contrary to popular belief in industry circles, both TV and cinema remain highly relevant:
TV viewership in India has remained constant for 17 years, far outpacing OTT daily consumption.
Theatres continue to succeed when great, bold content is made, as proven by films like Sra, Jawan, Kantara, and Malayalam hits crossing regional boundaries.
A Call for Boldness and Fresh PerspectivesTo “reclaim bold,” the industry must:
Overcome self-imposed limitations and open entry doors to new, diverse creators.
Innovate along the full value chain: storytelling, consumer understanding, production, budget allocation, marketing, and tech adoption (including AI/GenAI as enabling tools, not substitutes).
Balance “consumer first” with “champion fresh voices,” rather than rewarding only those with past experience.
Adopt a screen-agnostic, platform-neutral approach, with content designed for TV, OTT, social media, and cinemas alike.
Alok Jain’s Closing Mantras
Get closer to the consumer and put them first in content decisions.
Champion fresh, untested voices alongside established talent to unlock new creative power.
Deliver content that is inherently “screen agnostic,” meeting consumers wherever they are, across platforms and formats.
The future depends on boldness and innovation—the industry must “dare again” to drive the next wave of Indian entertainment.
The recent fireside chat between Deepak Dhar (Group CEO of Banijay Asia and Endemol Shine India) and Mayank Shekhar at The Content Hub Summit (TCH) explored India’s scaling ambitions for original content, the creation of lasting intellectual properties, and India’s emerging leadership in both scripted and unscripted formats. Deepak Dhar underscored the immense volume and diversity of Indian production, noting that Banijay and Endemol Shine undertook over 800 production days of Bigg Boss across multiple languages—a scale few other markets can match.
He remarked that India’s content ecosystem is experiencing a dramatic shift, moving from traditional hyperlocal TV formats to stories that resonate on a global scale, especially with the rise of streaming platforms that have democratized content and shrunk national and linguistic boundaries. Dhar believes India is at a historic juncture where, instead of merely importing global formats, its original IPs can now aspire to international export and recognition. He attributes this readiness to both increased platform reach and evolved audience preferences.
Anecdotes from his personal life (such as seeing his daughter choosing a laptop over a TV for movie watching) reflected the fundamental change in Indian content consumption patterns, demonstrating why business models must adapt rapidly. Dhar’s guiding philosophy emphasized that, while predicting hits remains elusive, the key lies in identifying great stories, nurturing the right creative teams, and actively trusting the curation process. He advocates for flexibility and ongoing reinvention: rewriting the “script for success” as audience behaviors, formats, and technology continue to transform the entertainment landscape.
The panel discussion “MINDSET CHANGE: You are not making for a single screen”, with Fremantle’s Aradhna Bhola, Applause’s Sunil Chainani, Juggernaut Productions’ Samar Khan, Sri Adhikari Brothers’ Kailash Adhikari, Marigold Studios’ Hemal Thakkar, and Balaji Telefilms’ Nitin Burman. Chairing the discussion is Bodhitree Multimedia’s Sukesh Motwani, at The Content Hub Summit 2025, here are the key takeaways:
Platform-Agnostic Content Creation is Essential
The fundamental shift in the industry is clear: content creators can no longer think in terms of single-screen production. As chair Sukesh Motwani from Bodhitree Multimedia emphasized, “Fiction’s no longer just about arcs and actors. It’s about vertical shots for Reels, character intros for Shorts, and scenes that snap into memes”. Directors are now being briefed to film key plot points in portrait mode, ensuring content works across multiple formats from 90-minute narratives to 9-second clips.
Cross-Format Storytelling and Content Repurposing
Samar Khan from Juggernaut Productions highlighted the fluid nature of modern content: “We told a true story as a doc. Platforms bought it as fiction. Now we’re cutting Shorts from it too”. His teams actively repurpose documentaries into audio formats for the podcasting boom, demonstrating how single pieces of content must serve multiple consumption patterns and platform requirements.
Legacy Content as Gold Mine
Veteran producer Kailash Adhikari revealed that three-decade-old shows continue monetizing through modern formats as memes, clips, and podcast content, noting that “legacy content’s like gold dust if you know how to pan for it”. Even niche policy podcasts are finding new life as snackable content with high-value backing, showing the enduring value of well-created intellectual property.
IP-Driven Universe Building
Hemal A Thakkar from Mariegold Studio discussed expanding content franchises beyond traditional screens into gaming and virtual reality, predicting scenarios where characters like Shiva become both screen heroes and playable avatars. The focus has shifted to building comprehensive intellectual properties that extend into games, VR experiences, and potentially AI-generated spin-offs.
Theatrical-First Still Valuable but Evolving
Sunil Chainani from Applause Entertainment maintains belief in theatrical-first approaches for major releases but acknowledges that “the music, the score, even classic dialogues, they’re all mini verticals in themselves”. This represents the industry’s recognition that even traditional cinema must be conceived with multi-platform exploitation in mind from the outset.
Format Innovation and Experimentation
The panel discussed emerging formats like vertical video for horror content, where the claustrophobic frame enhances the scare factor, and cited examples of Russian filmmakers creating war epics shot entirely in vertical format. Songs are already being stylized like Instagram Stories, indicating a complete reimagining of how content is conceived and produced.
Survival Through Flexibility
The overarching message was that survival in the current landscape requires complete flexibility. Content must function as a “Swiss army knife” – whether it’s a 3-hour film, 30-second short, or 3-minute podcast, every piece must be conceived to travel across platforms, devices, genres, and audiences. This adaptation is crucial as the industry grapples with digital fatigue and the death of appointment viewing patterns.
The fireside chat “From Cinema to Digital – The Changing Landscape of Indian Storytelling” featuring Nikhil Madhok (Prime Video, India) and Anil NM Wanvari (Indiantelevision.com Group) centered on how digital platforms are fundamentally altering the way Indian content is conceived, made, and consumed.
Nikhil Madhok emphasized that the rise of streaming has moved storytelling beyond the constraints of cinema halls, opening opportunities for hyper-local, diverse, and experimental narratives that wouldn’t have thrived in traditional box office-driven economics�. The conversation highlighted that audience behavior has shifted rapidly—consumers now switch between screens and formats with ease, demanding stories that can travel seamlessly across devices and geographies.
A central theme was the challenge of capturing and sustaining audience attention in an era of digital fatigue and content oversupply. The speakers discussed the strategic need to build franchises and lasting IPs, nurture new creators, and embrace innovation including AI-powered tools, while remaining rooted in deeply authentic Indian storytelling. There was clear acknowledgment that the creative process must evolve rapidly, but ethical and cultural authenticity should remain the foundation as India leads the way in digital-first storytelling.
Nikhil Madhok, Head of Originals at Prime Video India, emphasized that artificial intelligence (AI) has a growing, enabling role in content creation by enhancing efficiency and supporting new forms of storytelling, but he made it clear that ethical boundaries and authenticity are critical. He stated that AI-driven tools can automate tasks and assist creators, but they should never replace creative judgment, cultural context, or the human touch in writing and storytelling.
Madhok underscored that rooted authenticity and original voices remain essential for Indian content to resonate both locally and globally. He advocated that creators must maintain ethical practices—writing for local audiences, staying true to the worlds and characters they build, and avoiding imitation or formulaic approaches. AI “should serve as a tool to aid, not override,” and content success ultimately depends on creativity aligned with cultural and ethical values.
The panel discussion “The Future of Original Content,”Panel membersSaugata Mukherjee: Head of Content at SonyLIV, SPNI.Tejkarran Singh Bajaj: SVP & Head of Originals at Jio Studios.Goldie Behl: Director, Producer & Founder of Rose Audio Visuals Pvt. Ltd..Aditi Shrivastava: Co-Founder, MD & CEO of Pocket Aces.Swati Patnaik: Creative Director at Applause Entertainment.Anuj Gosalia: Founder & CEO of Terribly Tiny Tales (a part of Collective Artists Network), shared diverse perspectives on the challenges and strategies shaping the media landscape. Saugata Mukherjee emphasized that premium, high-quality content is the primary driver of business growth for platforms. In contrast, Goldie Behl suggested that the concept of “originality” is “overrated,” arguing it is more about the feeling a project evokes rather than a completely new idea, as all ideas are, to some extent, inspired by existing sources. Swati Patnaik echoed this sentiment, noting that creators draw inspiration from various places, like books and real life, when producing content. Aditi Shrivastava highlighted a community-focused approach, detailing how Pocket Aces identifies specific communities and creates content that is highly relatable to them. Anuj Gosalia underscored a major contemporary hurdle, pointing out the significant difficulty in retaining audience attention today, as viewers are constantly bombarded with options.
The six leading voices from India’s entertainment sector shared sharp perspectives on how storytelling, technology, and audience behavior are reshaping original content creation and monetization. Here are the speaker-by-speaker takeaways from the session.
Saugata Mukherjee – SonyLIV
Saugata emphasized the rise of data-informed creativity—the balance between instinct and analytics. He noted that platforms like SonyLIV are increasingly relying on audience behavior metrics to fund distinctive, riskier narratives while still building scaling franchises. For him, the future lies in regional storytelling layered with universal themes.
Tejkarran Singh Bajaj – Jio Studios
Tejkarran focused on content as an ecosystem-building exercise. He outlined Jio Studios’ strategy around IP ownership, cross-platform scalability, and cinematic universes that transcend OTT boundaries. He argued that long-term value in content will come from building worlds instead of one-off originals, which Jio Studios is pursuing aggressively.
Goldie Behl – Rose Audio Visuals
Goldie highlighted that creators will increasingly become brand custodians. He shared that emotional authenticity and craftsmanship must accompany technology-driven storytelling. According to him, AI should not replace artists but serve as a collaborative tool, and consistent tone and character arcs make shows long-lasting.
Aditi Shrivastava – Pocket Aces
Aditi’s insights revolved around the creator economy and new-age audience patterns. She discussed how Gen Z expects relatability, shorter formats, and value alignment. Platforms and studios, she said, need to behave more like creator networks—agile, experimental, and socially conscious, while nurturing a healthy ecosystem where creators can build sustainable micro-brands.
Swati Patnaik – Applause EntertainmentSwati explored the creative-philosophical balance in an AI-driven world. She called for ethical frameworks to guide AI content generation, arguing that true originality demands human interpretation of human conflict. She suggested that studios must invest in writers’ rooms, diversity, and cross-genre collaboration to retain creative uniqueness
Anuj Gosalia – Terribly Tiny Tales (TTT)
Anuj centered his talk on community storytelling and the power of micro-content. He shared that TTT’s goal is to turn moments into movements, where short stories become emotional signatures. He spoke about multi-platform transparency—publishing stories that travel seamlessly across social, podcast, and video formats—and building participative audiences instead of passive viewers.
Collective Industry Focus-
All panelists agreed that the next growth horizon depends on:
Decoding digital fatigue while preserving audience engagement.
Building franchise IPs with cultural stickiness.Adopting AI as augmentation, not automation.
Redefining originality by anchoring storytelling in real human emotion blended with scalable tech solutions.
These takeaways position “The Future of Original Content” as one of the most forward-looking conversations from The Content Hub Summit 2025, emphasizing narrative courage, creator empowerment, and ethical AI-led innovation.