Brands
Ultimate Ears ties-up with Shakti Mohan by using ‘Sutli Bomb’
MUMBAI: Speaker brand, Ultimate Ears, has partnered with digital and marketing agency Grapes Digital to launch a series of campaigns this festive season.
Grapes Digital rings in the festivities for Ultimate Ears by associating it with Shakti Mohan, India’s top choreographer and TV Celebrity for her new web series called “Break A Leg”. The series chronicles the story of non-dancing celebrities trying to learn complex forms of dance in a matter of hours.
This series is divided into four episodes and will have a fair share of banter with non-dancer celebrities which aired its first episode featuring Aparshakti Khurana and Abish Matthew on 31 October. The show will feature Aparshakti Khurana, Abish Matthew, Kashyap Kapoor, Namit Das, Mallika Dua, Srishti Dixit, Karan Wahi and Ritwik Dhanjani.
The Diwali themed promo video that features Shakti Mohan with her team of talented dancers performing breathtaking moves with Wonderboom speakers has already garnered 1 million views in five days.
Further to promote its Wonderboom speakers this festive season, it has launched an influencer marketing campaign called Ultimate Bomb. The campaign aims to encourage people to not burst firecrackers this Diwali, instead blast music with Ultimate Ears speakers and enjoy the festive season. The agency has associated with social media influencers for the same and will be sending across Wonderboom speakers disguised as a big Sutli Bombs to them. The speakers will be wrapped in green thread, making them visually indistinguishable from real Sutli Bombs.
This activity will be supported on Instagram, wherein the hashtag #UltimateEars will be used in all the influencers’ social media posts to be part of wider online conversations and make campaign more viral.
Grapes Digital COO Shradha Agarwal says, “We wanted to promote the idea of celebrating Diwali without the noise of crackers and replacing it with good music. Our team came up with this idea of promoting the speakers via influencers, as we understand the impact of micro-influencers in the social eco-system of the millennial, so that we can have greater social impact in brand’s target audience through this innovative idea of ‘don’t burst crackers instead blast music’ crusade.”
Speaking on the association, Shakti Mohan adds, “Break a Leg is my first ever web series, where celebrities learn dance moves that they have never attempted. What better way to dance this festive season than on some good music. I am glad we partnered with Ultimate Ears for our first video. The initial response has been overwhelming and we are excited for the upcoming videos.”
Brands
TV bills on the rise: JioStar, Sony, and Zee crank up prices by 10 per cent
Broadcasters tune into higher tariffs as JioStar, Sony, and Zee reveal new prices
MUMBAI: If you were hoping for a cheaper night in front of the telly next year, you might want to look away from the remote. India’s broadcasting giants are flipping the script on pricing, with JioStar, Sony, and Zee all tuning into a new frequency of higher tariffs. Ahead of the 2026 financial year, the Big Three have released their updated Reference Interconnect Offers (RIOs), signalling a collective push that will see most monthly bills rise by roughly 10 per cent.
The synchronised move suggests that broadcasters are testing the price elasticity of their audience. In simpler terms, they are betting that your love for daily soaps and live sports is stronger than your annoyance at a slightly lighter wallet.
Sony is making a particularly bold play in the High Definition space. If you enjoy the crispness of Sony Entertainment Television HD or Sony SAB HD, your monthly bill for those channels will jump from 25 rupees to 30 rupees. The same 30-rupee price tag now applies to their sports heavyweights, including Sony Sports Ten 1, Sony Sports Ten 2, Sony Sports Ten 3 Hindi, and Sony Sports Ten 5.
However, Sony is also expanding its horizons. Fans of regional content have new arrivals to look forward to, provided they are patient. Sony Sports Ten 4 Kannada is slated for an April 2026 debut, while Sony Vizha and Sony Vizha HD are expected by June. By August, Sony Telugu and Sony Telugu HD should be live. To keep customers sweet until then, Sony is offering “proportionate discounts.” For instance, the Happy India 2026 Smart Tamil bouquet, normally 42 rupees, will cost just 29.91 rupees until the new Vizha channel officially joins the party.
On the standard definition front, Sony is keeping its “strategic mass price” at 19 rupees for big hitters like Sony Max, Sony Marathi, and Sony Aath. Smaller channels see minor tweaks: Sony Max 2 is nudging up from 2 rupees to 3 rupees, while Sony Yay! sits at 6 rupees and Sony Max 1 remains at 5 rupees.
Zee Entertainment is also getting in on the act with a comprehensive 10 percent hike. Their flagship Standard Definition channels, such as Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zee Marathi, Zee Bangla, Zee Sarthak, Zee Kannada, and Zee Tamil, are all locked in at 19 rupees. Interestingly, they have matched this 19-rupee price point for many of their HD versions too, including &TV and &Pictures.
For those who prefer the all-you-can-eat bouquet approach, Zee’s All-in-One Hindi SD pack has risen to 58 rupees. Their Marathi and Bangla packs are now 64 rupees, while the Southern trio of Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu SD packs will set you back 85 rupees. If you want those same Southern packs in glorious HD, the price climbs to a steeper 131 rupees. Zee is also shuffling its deck by exiting English entertainment but entering the sports arena, with Zee Cafe and &flix seeing price adjustments to 7 and 8 rupees respectively.
JioStar is perhaps the most aggressive of the bunch when it comes to regional favourites. While they have kept core Hindi staples like Star Plus, Colors, and Star Gold at 19 rupees, they have pushed premium regional channels like Asianet, Colors Kannada, Vijay TV, and Maa TV up to 30 rupees. This move is significant because any channel priced over 19 rupees cannot be included in a discounted bouquet, meaning fans of these channels will have to buy them separately, potentially driving up the total cost of a monthly subscription.
Even the youngsters aren’t spared, with kids’ favourites like Nick SD and Nick HD+ now priced at 19 rupees. As we head towards April 2026, the ball is now in the court of the cable and dish operators. They must decide how much of these increases they can swallow and how much they will pass on to the person holding the remote. For the average viewer, the message is clear: premium content is getting a premium price tag.
