The Media & Entertainment Innovation Award
This category is for the technology behind what audiences watch, read, hear and play — production, distribution, discovery, monetisation and rights — judged on what it changed for the audience or the people making the work.
- Independent jury
- 250
- Innovations evaluated
- 4,500+
- Star rating
- 1–5
- Running since
- 2010
Academics, scientists, officials, investors
Across seventeen editions
Every nominee earns an AGBA Innovation Star
India’s longest-running innovation award
Three categories sit close to data. This is the one about method and evidence.
Most nominations that fail here fail because they were in the wrong category. Read across before you write anything.
Innovation in Media & Entertainment
Production, distribution, discovery and monetisation across formats.
This category
Innovation in MarTech
Audience acquisition, campaigns and measurement.
Who should enter
- Production and post-production technology that changed cost, speed or craft
- Streaming, delivery and playback engineering at audience scale
- Discovery, personalisation and language technology, including dubbing and subtitling
- Rights, piracy and monetisation systems with measurable effect
- Gaming and interactive entertainment technology beyond a single title
What this award recognises is a measurable change for the audience or the makers — a format reached more people, a workflow halved, a language barrier removed. Awards for the content itself belong elsewhere.
If the work is immersive or spatial, enter Innovation in AR & VR. If it is audience acquisition and campaign technology, enter Innovation in MarTech.
What the jury looks for
- Problem definition & market opportunityWhether the innovation solves a real problem, backed by evidence and a measurable impact on its target audience.
- InnovativenessNovelty and uniqueness — new technology, functionality or business model — measured against what already exists, including IP.
- Market potential & impactSize and growth of the addressable market, competitive landscape, and scalability across geographies.
- Social impact & sustainabilityContribution to society and the environment, including social responsibility and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
These are the same four criteria — problem definition, innovativeness, market impact and social/sustainability impact — used to assess every category. In this category the jury also weighs methodological rigour — including what you did to avoid fooling yourselves — the decision that changed as a result and what it was worth, the reproducibility and honesty of the evaluation, and the engineering quality of the data foundation underneath. Read the full evaluation criteria.
Who judges this category
Nominations are assessed by an independent jury, not by the organisers. Jurors are matched to the categories where their expertise lies. These are among those who read media, content and audience technology entries.
Dr. Manoj Kumar PatairiyaFormerly Head and Adviser, National Council for Science and Technology Communication
Prof. Muhammad BilalProfessor, Applied Artificial Intelligence and Technology Ethics, Birmingham City Business School
Prof. Julie WallProfessor of Artificial Intelligence, University of East London
Kanu GulatiPartner, Khosla Ventures
Mr. Sudhanshu MittalHead and Director, Technical Solutions, NASSCOM
Mr. Amitabh SatyamAuthor and Chairman, Smart Transformations
Dr. Avik SarkarBig Data and AI expert, Indian School of Business
Dr. Aloknath DeFormer Chief Technology Officer, Samsung R&D Institute IndiaEight of roughly 250. The full panel spans the IITs, the IIMs, the IIITs, the Indian School of Business, NITI Aayog and central ministries, the Department of Science & Technology, MeitY and CERT-In. See the full jury panel.
A category still finding its roll
Media and entertainment has been recognised only occasionally so far, most recently at the 14th edition. The 17th edition puts it back on the list in its own right.
The precedent so far
This category has a short roll: Tessact took it at the 14th edition, and media technology has otherwise been recognised inside adjacent categories. The complete record sits in the winners archive.
Category names have changed across editions as the field has moved; the rows above are the closest equivalents in the published record. See the winners archive for the full 1st–16th edition history.
What happens after you submit
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Stage one · nowNomination registration
Register your company and category through the nomination process, then complete the detailed nomination form and processing fee.
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Stage twoJury presentation
Present the innovation to the jury and take questions. Jurors score each entry against the four evaluation criteria and rank it within its category.
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Stage threeStar Certification
Nominees are also assessed for AGBA Innovation Star Certification, an independent maturity rating alongside the category judging.
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Stage fourFinalists announced
Once every category has been evaluated, finalists are announced on the website ahead of the ceremony.
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Stage fiveAward ceremony
Winners are honoured on 18 February 2027 at Hotel Ashoka, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.
Before you write your nomination
Are you judging the content or the technology?
The technology and the system around it. A film, show or game is not judged on its merits here; how it was made, delivered or discovered is.
Is language technology read here?
Yes. Dubbing, subtitling, voice and translation work that widened an audience is a strong fit for this category.
Is a single title or campaign enough?
It can be, if the technology behind it is reusable and the effect on audience or production is measured.
How do I submit a nomination?
Nominations are submitted through the nomination process, which sets out the stages, the supporting material required and the current edition’s dates.
Put your pipeline in front of the panel
Nominations for the Media and Entertainment Innovation Award are read by an independent jury of technologists and communicators. Bring the audience or production numbers.