*'I don’t think television as a medium will lose its relevance,' Ashnoor Kaur on evolving viewing habits*

Having grown up on television sets and now navigating reality TV and digital conversations, Ashnoor Kaur has had a front-row seat to how the industry is evolving. Known for her early start as a child actor and more recently seen as a contestant on Bigg Boss 18, she believes that while formats are changing, television continues to hold its ground.

“I feel the way people are consuming television today has changed significantly. Today, almost every GEC (General Entertainment Channel) also has a strong OTT presence. For instance, Star Plus content is available on JioHotstar, and earlier Viacom18 content used to be on Voot. This shift has made content far more accessible. I’ve seen Gen Z audiences watching daily shows while travelling, directly on their phones, which was never the case earlier,” she says.

Her views come at a time when conversations across the industry are increasingly focused on format evolution, digital-first storytelling and the balance between traditional and new platforms, a trend reflected at forums like Content India 2026, organized by Dish TV India, where creators and industry voices discuss the future of the Indian content and entertainment ecosystem.

Despite the shift to on-demand, she maintains that television still has a strong connect. “The traditional habit of sitting at a fixed time to watch TV on a cable network has clearly evolved into on-demand viewing. However, in Tier 2 and interior markets, television still holds strong relevance and continues to be deeply embedded in daily routines. Going forward, while consumption formats will keep evolving, I don’t think television as a medium will lose its relevance. It caters to a distinct audience segment that continues to engage with it consistently.”

At the same time, she points out how the explosion of content has made it harder to hold attention. “I think it's very different because of course with the advent of social media and short form content, the attention span has really gone down, it's really reduced. So I think these days the hook of a video really needs to be engaging for the person to actually watch the entire video. Because right now there's an overflow in supply and there's limited demand. So the demand remains the same. But there's so much content out there everywhere that it's really important to find your niche and also get the right people to get to watch your content.”

Reflecting on how content today travels beyond boundaries, she adds, “Content knows no boundaries. And I feel, you know, with events like Content India wherein we have people from all over the globe coming in, sharing their own insights, I feel it's a great experience and it's a great melting pot to kind of taper down to that one thing that connects us and that is content cinema movies.”