MAM
Sun TV to up ad rates from 1 April
MUMBAI: Catching the signals of a strong rebound in the Indian economy, Sun TV Network has decided to increase its advertising rates just five quarters after its earlier revision.
The Kalanithi Maran-owned South Indian media conglomerate, which had increased it advertising rates starting 1 January last year (after a gap of almost two years), has announced a further 8-32 per cent hike across its Tamil channels.
Effective 1 April, flagship channel Sun TV and the other Tamil channels – KTV, Sun Music, Sun News, Chutti and Adhitya – will hike their ad rates.
“The effective ad rate hike will be 15 per cent across the Tamil market. Tamil Nadu contributes 45 per cent of Sun Network’s total ad revenues. Sun will continue to maintain a healthy ad growth in the next fiscal, both from volumes and from the rate hike,” says a market source.
The rate hike will be effective across the slot fees (broadcast fees) received from content producers.
Sun TV Network will also announce soon ad rate hike across the other three south markets. Sun has 14 channels in these three language markets including Gemini (Telugu), Udaya (Kannada) and Surya (Malayalam).
The overall effective ad rate hike across the four markets would be in the region of 13-15 per cent, according to market estimates.
Sun had last revised its ad rates across its channels between 10-33 per cent from January 2010. This resulted in an effective hike of 13 per cent, according to market estimates.
For the first nine-month period ended December, Sun reported a total income of Rs 14.93 billion, up 43.93 per cent from the year-ago period.
Shares of Sun TV closed Tuesday at Rs 409.65, down marginally by 0.24 per cent in a bearish market, as it recovered after Monday‘s 11 per cent tumble due to rumours of CBI investigation on alleged links with Kalaignar TV, which was reported to have received Rs 2.14 billion as loan from DB Realty. The stock touched an intraday high of Rs 433.15 and a low of Rs 402.05 on the BSE.
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
