ITV

Category: Television

  • Business Today rings in new market shows with opening and closing bell

    Business Today rings in new market shows with opening and closing bell

    MUMBAI: Markets may thrive on numbers, but sometimes it takes a sharp story to make sense of the swirl. finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman today struck the gong on a new phase of Business Today Multiverse, launching two dedicated market shows designed to keep investors ahead of the curve at the opening bell and right through to the close.

    The Market Opening show, airing 9:05 am to 9:30 am, promises a crisp 25-minute scan of overnight Wall Street movements, Asian market trends, and the first stirrings of Dalal Street. With early reads on the Sensex, Nifty and stock-specific triggers, the segment distils the noise into clarity giving professionals a cheat sheet for the business day ahead.

    Come 3:00 pm, the baton passes to Market Closing, a half-hour wrap that does more than just flash the ticker. Expect deep dives into sectoral trends, top gainers and laggards, institutional flows and macroeconomic sparks, all explained with context, not clutter. For investors, it’s the day’s financial screenplay neatly tied up before the curtains drop.

    Together, the twin programmes expand the Business Today Multiverse, an omnichannel media ecosystem that blends print depth, digital speed, broadcast punch and social conversations. For an audience hungry for credible financial information in uncertain times, the shows are positioned as trusted guides to navigate not just numbers, but narratives.

    Calling the new launch a “collab that matters”, Business Today vice chairperson and executive editor-in-chief Kalli Purie said: “What people need most is clarity backed by expertise. That’s where the authority of Business Today, a 35-year-old brand built on integrity and independence from vested industrial interests becomes invaluable. These new shows carry forward our promise to give audiences news that impacts their money, delivered with trust.”

    In an age where a single market ripple in New York can send tremors through Mumbai’s trading floors, the launch underscores how timeliness and transparency are no longer luxuries but essentials. By pairing editorial authority with real-time precision, Business Today Multiverse is betting that investors will tune in not just for numbers but for the story behind them.

  • Haier kicks off global game with Liverpool, PSG and tennis power play

    Haier kicks off global game with Liverpool, PSG and tennis power play

    MUMBAI: When it comes to sport, Haier is no longer just in the business of cool refrigerators, it’s chilling with champions. The world’s No.1 global major appliances brand for 16 consecutive years has just unveiled blockbuster multi-year partnerships with Liverpool Football Club and Paris Saint-Germain, two of the most-followed clubs on the planet. The announcement, made at IFA Berlin, saw club executives join Haier leaders to reveal a fresh brand strategy that links the footballing elite with a company famed for user-centric innovation. Fans can expect Haier to activate its badge across stadiums, digital platforms and retail touchpoints, roll out exclusive fan experiences, and even explore co-branded smart-home products that channel matchday passion straight into living rooms.

    But the deal doesn’t stop at Anfield or Parc des Princes. Haier’s football footprint already spans LALIGA among the world’s most-watched leagues, Liga Portugal, one of Europe’s fastest-growing, and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, home to Africa’s rising powerhouse. Together, these partnerships highlight the strategic weight of Spain, Portugal and Morocco in Haier’s football roadmap.

    Off the pitch, Haier is just as aggressive on the court. The brand has renewed its ATP Tour partnership through 2028, ensuring visibility at four major tournaments: the Plava Laguna Croatia Open (Umag), ABN Amro Open (Rotterdam), BMW Open (Munich), and the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. That means more than just logos on banners, think on-court branding, hospitality experiences and product integration designed to put Haier in front of an audience of over one billion online fans. Add to that its continuing partnerships with Roland-Garros, the Rolex Paris Masters, the Australian Open and Madrid Open, and tennis is firmly set as Haier’s premium playground.

    The brand has also expanded its ATP role beyond Home Appliances into Home Entertainment & TV, signalling a cross-category push to engage global fans with both fridges and flat-screens. It’s a dual-sponsorship strategy that Haier calls Sport-o-Tainment where sporting passion fuses with entertainment. In India, this has meant aligning with IPL, ICC Cricket World Cups and even Wimbledon, tapping into a country where sports-crazy youth expect both premium experiences and cultural connection.

    Values are at the core of these deals. For Haier, football and tennis embody teamwork, elegance, precision and top-level performance traits it likens to its connected smart solutions. As the brand frames it, this is about more than advertising; it’s about reflecting excellence and creating shared value across continents.

    The partnerships also carry a touch of nostalgia. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Candy now part of Haier Europe was Liverpool’s main shirt sponsor, a chapter still remembered fondly by Reds fans. With Haier’s new tie-up, the story comes full circle, reuniting the club with a brand family that has history stitched into its shirt.

    Whether on the turf at Anfield, the clay of Roland-Garros or the hard courts of Melbourne, Haier is proving that its winning streak is not confined to the kitchen. By pairing itself with champions of football and tennis, the company is playing at the very top tier of global sport and inviting fans to bring that energy home.

  • ABP Live drives into Maruti Suzuki dashboards with 24×7 news and podcasts

    ABP Live drives into Maruti Suzuki dashboards with 24×7 news and podcasts

    MUMBAI:  ABP live, the digital arm of ABP network, has teamed up with Maruti Suzuki to bring round-the-clock news, podcasts and infotainment directly into car dashboards, making the morning commute a little less mundane.

    The partnership makes ABP live the first Indian digital news publisher to be integrated natively into Maruti Suzuki’s in-car infotainment system, Maruti connect. Starting later this year, drivers will be able to tune into ABP News in Hindi, ABP Majha in Marathi and ABP Ananda in Bengali, alongside a slate of podcasts on culture, lifestyle and current affairs.

    With more than 25 million Maruti vehicles already on the road, the tie-up promises to transform how Indians catch up with the world while on the move, whether stuck in Delhi’s gridlock or cruising down the Mumbai-Pune expressway.

    ABP Network, chief executive, Sumanta Datta said, “Our collaboration is about much more than delivering content; it’s about creating convenience, credibility and connection. Whether drivers are facing city congestion or open highways, ABP Live ensures trusted news and engaging audio are always accessible.”

    By embedding credible journalism into India’s largest car fleet, the partnership puts ABP Live at the wheel of connected mobility. For Maruti drivers, infotainment will no longer be an afterthought but part of the journey itself.

  • Kuma conquers Turkey as Goquest drama tops ratings and global charts

    Kuma conquers Turkey as Goquest drama tops ratings and global charts

    MUMBAI: Talk about a drama with bite! Kuma (The Other Wife), the breakout Turkish series from Goquest Media, has clawed its way from digital darling to television titan, topping national ratings and stirring conversations far beyond Turkey’s borders.

    Since premiering on Kanal 7, Kuma has consistently ranked among the country’s top six shows, scripted or unscripted. This year, it claimed the No. 1 spot on drama portal Dizilah’s list of 2025’s most talked-about titles. Not bad for a show that only launched on Youtube in April, where it quickly racked up more than 328 million views in five months.

    The show’s leap from online phenomenon to primetime hit is rare, but audiences across Turkey were quick to embrace its heady mix of love, betrayal and family intrigue. Calls for a second season are already growing louder.

    Kuma’s popularity is hardly confined to Turkey. Licensed in more than 19 countries including Israel, Romania, Indonesia, Mexico and Nigeria, the series has repeated its ratings triumph wherever it has aired. In Indonesia, demand was so strong that it graduated from an OTT platform to nationwide free-to-air television.

    The drama also marks a milestone for Goquest Media. Produced in collaboration with Stellar Productions and VIP 2000 TV, Kuma is the distributor’s first original title under its make-to-sell model.

    “Kuma’s extraordinary journey from YouTube sensation to Turkey’s top drama is a testament to the power of audience passion,” said Goquest Media, managing director, Vivek Lath.

    With its soaring success and cross-border appeal, Kuma has proved that a strong story travels well. In 2025’s crowded entertainment landscape, this Turkish drama has become a global talking point: one toast at a time, in every language.
     

  • Zee 24 Taas makes noise with Ganpati coverage that wins viewer devotion

    Zee 24 Taas makes noise with Ganpati coverage that wins viewer devotion

    MUMBAI: When Maharashtra welcomed its favourite elephant-headed god this year, Zee 24 Taas ensured no modak went unshared and no mandap went unseen. The channel rolled out wall-to-wall coverage of Ganesh Utsav 2025, blending ritual, revelry and reportage into a festival broadcast that stretched from the narrowest lanes of Pune to the furthest corners of the world.

    The scale was nothing short of spectacular. With live, on-ground reporting from major mandals across urban centres and rural outposts, Zee 24 Taas captured the devotion, colour and cultural vibrancy of the state’s most celebrated festival. Viewers not only saw the grandeur of Mumbai’s Lalbaugcha Raja and Pune’s Dagdusheth Halwai mandal but also felt the pulse of smaller towns, where local communities brought their own flair to the festivities.

    And it wasn’t just Maharashtra tuning in. Through robust digital-first initiatives, including live streaming, interactive updates, mobile feeds and social media engagement, the coverage reached audiences across six continents, making it a truly global Ganesh Utsav. Diaspora viewers joined in real time, watching rituals, immersions and mandal visits unfold alongside political developments and community stories.

    Zee 24 Taas also went beyond just visuals, curating special programming that delved into the history, traditions and evolving practices of Ganesh Chaturthi. From exploring how eco-friendly celebrations are reshaping idol-making to telling stories from rural Maharashtra, the shows added depth, giving the festival both cultural context and contemporary relevance. Citizen voices, community stories and ground-level experiences further enriched the mix, ensuring the coverage felt participatory rather than just observational.

    Brands, too, took note. Leading advertisers partnered with the channel to tap into millions of festive viewers, leveraging Zee 24 Taas’ reputation as Maharashtra’s most trusted news destination. Even amid major political events dominating headlines, the channel balanced hard news with devotional fervour keeping audiences informed without diluting the festival spirit.

    The channel’s leadership called it a defining moment. managing editor Kamlesh Sutar described Ganesh Utsav as “a reflection of Maharashtra’s culture, traditions and collective spirit” and praised the team for capturing both the energy of the celebrations and the news pulse of the state. Meanwhile ZMCL CEO Karan Abhishek Singh pointed out how the coverage underscored the network’s commitment to immersive, accurate and engaging journalism extending from television to mobile screens.

    By uniting festival storytelling with timely reportage and global digital integration, Zee 24 Taas has set a new benchmark for what festival journalism can look like. This year’s Ganpati wasn’t just covered, it was celebrated, streamed and shared across the globe. And in the process, Zee 24 Taas showed why, in Maharashtra, it remains the channel where devotion meets credible journalism.

  • Bigg Boss19 plays it twice, wins big on JioHotstar and late-night TV

    Bigg Boss19 plays it twice, wins big on JioHotstar and late-night TV

    MUMBAI: Lights, cameras, and double drama Bigg Boss19 is proving that once just isn’t enough. The reality juggernaut has not only set records on JioHotstar but also flexed its muscles on late-night television, drawing audiences well past prime time.

    On its TV run at 10.30 pm on Colors, the launch episode clocked a robust 1.6 TVR, with the show settling at an average 1.3 TVR through the week. What makes the feat stand out is the staggered release strategy all episodes premiere at 9 pm on JioHotstar before airing on TV an hour and a half later. For most shows, that would mean diminished television numbers. For Bigg Boss, it means twice the buzz.

    Online, the format is already a phenomenon. On JioHotstar, Bigg Boss19 has delivered 2.3 times higher reach and 2.4 times more watch-time than last season, smashing every benchmark. With double platforms, double audiences and double drama, the show has proved that in India’s entertainment universe, Bigg Boss remains the undisputed master of the house.

  • Reality Ranis swap jungle for shore as Season 2 drama washes ashore

    Reality Ranis swap jungle for shore as Season 2 drama washes ashore

    MUMBAI: The Ranis are back and this time, they’re trading leaves for waves. Warner Bros. Discovery has dropped the trailer for Reality Ranis of the Jungle Season 2, and the all-female survival show is moving from dense forests to sandy shores. The first look teases a stormy mix of crashing waves, sizzling rivalries and survival drama as 12 contestants battle for the ultimate crown.

    Season 1 set the tone with fierce jungle clashes, but the sequel looks double the size and twice the fun. The fresh lineup features Samyukta Hegde, Irena Rudakova, Archana Gautam, Sara Gurpal and more all ready to swap comfort zones for chaos. Adding extra spice, Rakhi Sawant storms into the mix, promising unpredictability that only she can deliver. Guiding the spectacle once again is host Varun Sood, whose return ensures fans a familiar yet amped-up ride through the survival saga.

    The timing couldn’t be more symbolic. As Discovery celebrates 40 years globally and 30 in India, the series mirrors its DNA of bold, edge-of-seat storytelling. Reality Ranis Season 2 isn’t just about endurance, it’s about power plays, transformations, and testing limits under the scorching sun. With beach brawls, surprise twists, and a crown on the line, these Ranis are set to prove that survival, like the tide, waits for no one.
     

  • CNN-News18 breaks the news and the gap with rivals in ratings race

    CNN-News18 breaks the news and the gap with rivals in ratings race

    MUMBAI: When it comes to prime-time battles, CNN-News18 is not just reporting the news, it’s making it. The latest BARC data shows the channel miles ahead in the English news race, leaving rivals scrambling to catch up. With a commanding 42.1 per cent market share, CNN-News18 is holding more than just the mic; it’s holding the crown.

    The numbers paint a picture as sharp as the headlines: NDTV 24×7 trails with 26.1 per cent, while Times Now languishes at 17.3 per cent. That means CNN-News18 is 61 per cent ahead of NDTV 24×7 and a staggering 143 per cent ahead of Times Now. The gap is so wide that the No. 1 player is practically operating in a different league, underscoring the channel’s edge in delivering clutter-free, noise-free, credible news.

    This isn’t a one-off spike. Since BARC resumed ratings in March 2022, CNN-News18 has kept its lead for over three years straight proof that in the ever-changing world of television news, consistency still wins. For viewers, the message is clear: when it comes to English news, CNN-News18 doesn’t just set the agenda, it owns it.

  • Avanish Kumar takes charge of government digital business at NDTV

    Avanish Kumar takes charge of government digital business at NDTV

    NEW DELHI: NDTV has named Avanish Kumar as head of digital business (government), tasking him with leading its engagement with ministries, departments, PSUs and state bodies at a time when government advertising and campaigns are becoming increasingly digital.

    Kumar joins from the India Today group, where he spent more than two years as chief manager of government business. There he managed the Business Today “Multiverse” – spanning the magazine, businesstoday.in and BTTV – with a sharp focus on monetising digital assets, building state and central government associations, and positioning the brand as media partner for investor summits and public events. He also worked directly with political parties to craft campaign solutions across platforms.

    Before India Today, Kumar was head of media marketing at Bharat Prakashan, publisher of Organiser and Panchjanya, where he managed pan-India teams and drove digital and content-marketing strategies for clients. He earlier served as business head at Flame Advertising, handling PSU and BFSI accounts, and was instrumental in developing government activations across radio, print, digital and cinema.

    Kumar cut his teeth in the private-sector media houses. At Hindustan Times, he generated advertising revenue across print, digital and radio while monetising flagship events such as the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Mint Energy Conclave and HT Palate Festival. At The Hindu, he focused on government features, supplements and sponsorship deals, working with ministries on campaigns such as “Incredible India”. His early years were spent at Nava Bharat, liaising with ministries and advertising agencies for media plans.

    Across these roles, Kumar has built a reputation as a government-business specialist with deep relationships across ministries, state information departments, investment boards and advertising agencies. His skill set blends digital marketing, media sales and event monetisation – areas critical for broadcasters and publishers as government spending increasingly shifts from print to online.

    At NDTV, Kumar’s brief is clear: maximise public-sector partnerships, align with government communication priorities, and grow digital revenues. His appointment comes as NDTV, part of the Adani group, looks to strengthen its foothold in digital news while navigating a fiercely competitive and politically sensitive landscape.

  • ideabaaz names Mudit Kumar as co-founder and COO

    ideabaaz names Mudit Kumar as co-founder and COO

    NEW DELHI: Ideabaaz, an Indian platform aimed at supporting startups, has appointed Mudit Kumar as its new co-founder and chief operating officer.  Kumar brings nearly two decades of experience in private banking and wealth management, having previously worked with prominent financial institutions such as the Aditya Birla Group, ICICI Securities Private Wealth, and, most recently, LGT Wealth India.

    During his career,  Kumar has advised ultra-high-net-worth individuals and family offices on wealth strategies and strategic investments. His experience extends to curating cross-border asset management solutions and integrating startup ideations into client portfolios. An active participant in India’s vibrant startup ecosystem, he has also invested in and mentored founders of early-stage ventures in sectors like climate tech, spacetech, healthtech, legal tech, and fintech.

    In his new role,  Kumar will help lead Ideabaaz’s mission to connect innovators from across “Bharat” (a term for a more inclusive, rural India) with capital, mentorship, and markets. The company aims to democratise access to these resources, particularly for founders from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities who often struggle to get the exposure and support they need.

    “Ideabaaz is more than a platform—it’s a movement to bring ambitious ideas and capable founders into the spotlight,” said Kumar. “I’m excited to help shape its journey and create meaningful opportunities for startups across India, especially from emerging cities.”

    The appointment is expected to strengthen Ideabaaz’s focus on building a structured framework for innovators from smaller cities to thrive. The company was co-founded by Jeet Wagh and describes itself as “Bharat ka apna startup manch” (India’s own startup platform).