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Ad inventory for India-Australia series sold out
MUMBAI: India‘s poor performance on the home soil notwithstanding, the ad inventory for the India-Australia Test series has completely been sold out.
Star Sports, the official broadcaster of the series, has roped in 12 sponsors for the series that includes two-wheeler automobile major Hero MotoCorp as joint-presenting sponsor.
Tata Teleservices and Havells are the other two joint-presenting sponsors while Maruti Suzuki, Nokia, JK Cement, Max India, Panasonic India, Bharti Axa, Samsung Camera, Perfetti and Karbonn Tablet are the associate sponsors.
Hero which was the official on-ground sponsor of Indian Premier League (IPL) and ICC events, had decided not to renew deals for these two properties. The company had also pulled out of its sponsorship of iconic IPL team Mumbai Indians.
Star Sports spokesperson said, “ We are completely sold out for the India Australia Test series. In fact, over the last 2-3 days we have said no to multiple clients who were keen to leverage the forthcoming test series because we don’t have any inventory left with us.”
Platinum Media CEO Basabdutta Chowdhury said that the ad rates for the series fall in the range of Rs 55,000-65,000. Joint-presenting sponsors are paying Rs 40 million each while the associate sponsors are forking out Rs 30 million.
“The rates for a England, Australia or a South Africa are on par while there is a premium attached to an India-Pakistan series,” she said.
The first Test will be played in Chennai from 22-26 February, second at Hyderabad from 2-6 March, third at Mohali from 14-18 March and the last will be played at Delhi on 22-26 March.
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Paramount set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in $81 billion deal
Shareholders back merger, combined entity could reshape streaming and studios.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… consolidation, Hollywood’s latest blockbuster might be happening off-screen. Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery have voted in favour of selling the company to Paramount in a deal valued at $81 billion rising to nearly $111 billion including debt setting the stage for one of the biggest shake-ups in modern media. The proposed merger, still subject to regulatory approvals, would bring together a vast portfolio spanning HBO Max, CNN, and franchises such as Harry Potter under the same umbrella as Paramount’s own heavyweights, including Top Gun and CBS.
At the heart of the deal is streaming scale. Executives have indicated plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single platform, potentially creating a stronger challenger to giants like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video. Current market data suggests HBO Max holds around 12 per cent of US on-demand subscriptions, compared to Paramount+’s 3 per cent, together still trailing Netflix’s 19 per cent and Disney’s combined 27 per cent via Disney+ and Hulu.
Paramount CEO David Ellison has signalled that while platforms may merge, HBO’s creative identity will remain intact, stating the brand should “stay HBO” even within a broader ecosystem.
Beyond streaming, the deal would redraw the map for film production. Combining two of Hollywood’s oldest studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., the new entity aims to scale output to over 30 films annually, while maintaining a 45-day theatrical window. Warner Bros. currently commands around 21 per cent of the US box office, compared to Paramount’s 6 per cent, underscoring the strategic weight of the acquisition.
But scale comes with scrutiny. Critics warn that fewer players could mean reduced consumer choice, rising subscription costs, and potential job cuts as the combined company looks to streamline overlapping operations while managing billions in debt.
The news business, too, faces a reset. CNN would join forces at least structurally with Paramount-owned CBS, raising questions about editorial independence and positioning. The merger has already drawn political attention in the United States, particularly given perceived ties between the Ellison family and Donald Trump, though the company maintains that newsroom autonomy will be preserved.
If approved, the deal would mark another milestone in Hollywood’s consolidation wave shrinking the industry’s traditional “big six” studios to a “big four”, with Paramount joining Disney, Universal, and Sony at the top table.
In an industry built on storytelling, this merger may well become its most consequential plot twist yet.
