MAM
Audiences swell for India F1 GP
MUMBAI: The first Indian F1 Grand Prix that was held last weekend has seen a sixfold increase in TV ratings compared to other F1 races, according to data from TAM Sports (c&s, 4+ six Metros).
Tam data shows that if an average F1 GP has a TVR of 100, then the India race managed a TVR of 715. In terms of the other GP races, the Malaysian GP ran a TVR of 171 while the Australian GP managed 154 and the Singapore event got around 85 TVR. The analysis is based on the Qualifying Race and Race Day.
Lodestar UN COO Anamika Mehta said that since the F1 race was taking place in India for the first time, there was a lot of buzz. “There was a lot more excitement and it is natural that the TVR grew. F1 is still a nascent sport but if it is cultivated and marketed well, it will grow.”
Advertisers are still figuring out how an F1 association works in terms of economics and ROI. “The good news is that the race took place during the holiday season. Around 95,000 people watched the race on the ground which shows the kind of interest the event generated,” said Mehta.
Mehta feels that interest in advertisers among F1 at a ground level will mostly be for the India event as opposed to being involved with the other races. “Being involved with F1 at an overall level will be a slow burn process. Even Indian companies which want to go abroad for now are mostly only involved with the Indian race. It does not make sense for Indian companies who are mostly local to be involved at a ground level with races in foreign markets.”
Mehta expects advertisers to experiment with the F1 race in India over the next two to three years, both on-air and on the ground. So one could see different kinds of partnerships taking place.
Mehta also does not expect much viewership growth to happen for the other races remaining in the season. “While there might be a bit of growth for the remaining races in the season, I don‘t think that it will be dramatic. The sport has to be cultivated in the country,” she averred.
Brands
Govt moves 16.68 lakh email IDs to Zoho cloud platform, spends Rs 180 crore
Rs 180 crore spend backs push for secure, sovereign email system
NEW DELHI: The government has migrated around 16.68 lakh official email accounts to a cloud platform operated by Zoho, with total spending touching Rs 180.10 crore so far, Parliament was informed.
The update was shared by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in the Lok Sabha on April 1, highlighting a steady expansion of the Centre’s push towards a secure, homegrown digital infrastructure.
The migration has been carried out by the National Informatics Centre, which appointed Zoho as the master system integrator following a competitive bidding process on the Government e-Marketplace. The selection included a proof of concept phase involving shortlisted vendors and government users.
At its core, the initiative is aimed at creating a secure and sovereign email ecosystem for ministries and departments, with the government retaining full ownership of data and intellectual property. The shift also reflects a broader push to reduce reliance on global platforms for critical communication infrastructure.
Costs are tied to usage. The government pays between Rs 170 and Rs 300 per account per month, depending on storage capacity, which ranges from 30 GB to 100 GB. Billing is based on the number of active accounts migrated to the system.
The latest numbers mark a significant jump from December, when about 12.68 lakh accounts had been moved, including 7.45 lakh belonging to central government employees. The pace of migration suggests an accelerated rollout across departments in recent months.
With millions of accounts already onboarded, the project signals a clear shift towards digital sovereignty in official communications. As adoption deepens, the focus will likely turn to performance, scalability and user experience, ensuring that security does not come at the cost of efficiency.
