THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI
A first-of-its-kind media summit in Hyderabad will bring together speakers from media, marketing, business and technology for the seventh edition of the South India Media Summit (SIMS) 2026 on September 28 at the summit organised by Fourth Dimension Media Solutions. The full-day summit will focus on the changing media and advertising landscape, with discussions around regional markets, OTT, connected television, AI-led marketing, and technology as well as consumer behaviour.
Speaker line-up
The summit is set to be inaugurated by Dr Gaddam Vivek Venkataswamy, Telangana’s Minister for Labour, Employment Training and Factories, Mines and Geology. The speaker line-up includes Republic Media Network founder and Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, Vedic scholar Dushyant Sridhar, Havas Group CEO Rana Barua, Havas Media Network India CEO Mohit Joshi and other leaders from various sectors including FMCG, healthcare, hospitality, technology and consumer businesses.
These sessions will look at the convergence of media, technology and commerce, regional marketing strategies, content and OTT, connected TV, AI and changing consumer behaviour.
South India focus
For Fourth Dimension Media Solutions CEO Shankar B, the summit is also an opportunity to look beyond the media industry and understand the wider strengths of South India. He said the region has strong capabilities in content, creativity and several other sectors, and that the summit will bring these different strengths into the same conversation. Shankar pointed to Hyderabad’s emergence as a major Global Capability Centre hub and Tamil Nadu’s industrial strength, among other developments across the region. He said the focus should not only be on numbers but also on understanding how the region is progressing in qualitative terms. “With the five southern states being strong in content, creativity and several other sectors, the summit will showcase how they offer a broader perspective on the region’s growth,” he stated.
Focus on students
A special focus this year is on students. According to Shankar, students will be allowed free entry to the full-day summit, giving them an opportunity to sit through the sessions and hear directly from people working across media, technology and other industries. “We want to give something back to society,” Shankar said. He mentioned that the aim is to help students understand how the media landscape is changing, from OTT and linear television to connected TV, while also getting a sense of what kind of media and journalism Gen Z and Gen Alpha are consuming.
He also hoped the summit would inspire these students by giving them access to all the different speakers and sessions. “They will get a chance to listen to and engage with people whom they may not otherwise get to meet in person,” he said.
Communication lessons
Among these is Dushyant Sridhar’s session on communication through episodes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The session will look at how characters including Rama, Krishna, Hanuman and Vibhishana communicated and persuaded others, connecting traditional narratives with the importance of communication in everyday life. “While Goswami’s session is a highlight, it will also include an audience interaction,” he adds, stressing that no matter which field, communication remains of utmost importance.
With media, brands, businesses, technology leaders and students sharing the same platform, the summit is aimed at creating a wider conversation around where the industry is headed and how regional markets are increasingly shaping that conversation. Shankar says the event will offer audiences an opportunity to look beyond the media ecosystem and experience the strength of the South Indian industries firsthand.
