MAM
ESS ropes in Karthikeyan as F1 brand ambassador
MUMBAI: After having acquired the live and exclusive rights of FIA Formula One (F1) World Championships in India; ESPN Star Sports has sign Narain Karthikeyan as the ambassador for building the F1 sport in the country.
ESS has signed an unprecedented five-year agreement with F1 organisers and will broadcast live and exclusive coverage of all 19 Championship races of F1 from 2006 till 2010 season.
Karthikeyan will be an integral part of ESS’ plan to promote motor sports in the country. The channel will build a special on-air campaign around Karthikeyan to promote motor sports. He will also participate in various on-ground promotional events – screenings, road shows to be organised in selected cities across India to promote F1.
Announcing the F1 acquisition, ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd managing director R C Venkateish said, “We have been on a spree of acquiring new sports properties for our viewers in India. In the recent past we have acquired the Confederation Cup and the World Cup soccer 2006, TNA wrestling, Hockey rights and now the Formula One for full five years. These acquisitions place us uniquely as a wholesome sports broadcaster with the longest list of properties across every single discipline.”
“The new F1 deal represents the continuation of a successful partnership between ESPN STAR Sports and F1. ESPN STAR Sports through its sustained marketing efforts has grown the F1 viewership at the rate of an impressive 27 per cent on a year on year basis. We are also delighted to sign Narain Karthikeyan as an ambassador for building the F1 sport in India. We will use his presence in the F1 circuit to further grow the sport’s popularity in India.” he said.
“Narain’s presence will help in making Indian consumers relate to motor sports, subsequently leading into viewership for the sport. We will kick start our promotional campaign with Narian in an on-ground event in Narian’s home town, Coimbatore, in the first half of August 2005,” added Venkateish.
Formula One Management CEO Bernie Eccelstone said, “We are delighted to be able to renew our long standing relationship with ESPN STAR Sports and together we hope to be able to continue to grow the popularity of the F1 in Asia.”
Karthikeyan said, “It is a privilege to be associated with ESPN STAR Sports as the sports network has actually heralded the growth of F1 in India. Even though the fan following has shown a distinct uptrend, there is still a lot of room for growth. One of the main reasons why many Indians are not hooked to F1 is because they do not understand the game very well. My endeavour, through this association, will be to propagate the finer details of F1 so that comprehension of the game grows across the country. Hopefully, more and more Indians will take to F1 not only as a sport but also a potential profession and represent India at the premier championships.”
ESS has been working on a planned strategy to increase sampling of F1 in India. There are regular screenings held across the country for viewers. At the same time there has been an attempt to add local flavour in programming especially for markets where F1 is already popular like Tamil Nadu. F1 telecast with Tamil commentary started with the ‘Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix’ on 3 April, 2005. Radhakrishnan Srinivasan, experienced presenter and anchor for Sportsline & SportsCenter, commentates in Tamil for the benefit of Tamil understanding viewers in India.
Marketing efforts to boost the popularity of F1 have ensured an increase in viewership. F1’s net reach was 31.4 million thereby implying that 31.4 million individuals sampled the product in 2004. This is a huge 27 per cent increase over 2003. In 2005 season, more than 15 million have sampled F1 by just the eighth out of 19 races of the season.
In addition to the live telecast of all races, ESS has created a range of support programming to provide motor racing fans with the most comprehensive package of news and analysis. Preview show RaceDay starts off Star Sports’ coverage with a look at the race ahead, predictions, scenarios and past performances and how those are likely to develop in the day’s race. This will be followed by the live broadcast of the race before Chequered Flag delivers a recap including highlights, analysis, rankings and results, the post-race press conference and the awarding ceremony.
MAM
ASCI study uncovers how Gen Alpha navigates ads in endless digital feeds
‘What the Sigma?’ ethnographic report maps blurred boundaries between content and commerce for 7–15-year-olds.
MUMBAI: Gen Alpha isn’t scrolling through the internet, they’re living rent-free inside its never-ending dopamine drip, and the ads have already moved in next door. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) Academy, partnering with Futurebrands Consulting, has published ‘What the Sigma?’, an immersive ethnographic study that maps how Indian children aged 7–15 (Generation Alpha) consume, interpret and live alongside media and commercial messaging in a hyper-digital environment.
The research draws on in-home interviews, sibling and peer conversations, and discussions with parents, teachers, counsellors, psychologists, marketers and kidfluencers across six cities. It examines not only what children watch but how algorithms, content creators, peers and parents shape their relationship with the constant stream of shorts, vlogs, gameplay, memes, sponsored posts and ‘kid-ified’ adult material.
Five core themes emerged:
- Discontinuous Generation, Gen Alpha is not growing up alongside the internet, they are growing up inside it. Cultural references, humour, aesthetics and language sync globally in real time, often leaving adults functionally illiterate in their children’s world. A reference that lands instantly for a 10-year-old in Mumbai or Visakhapatnam feels opaque or disjointed to most parents.
- Authority Vacuum, Parents and teachers frequently lose cultural fluency in digital spaces. The algorithm responsive, inexhaustible and perfectly attuned to preferences becomes the most attentive presence in many children’s daily lives. Rules around screen time feel increasingly difficult to enforce when adults cannot fully see or understand the content landscape.
- Digital as Society, Online and offline no longer exist as separate realms, they form one continuous reality. The phone is not a tool children pick up; it is the primary social environment they inhabit.
- Great Media Mukbang, Content flows as an ambient, boundary-less, multi-sensorial stream. Entertainment, advertising, commerce, gameplay, memes and vlogs merge into one undifferentiated feed. The line between active choice and passive absorption has largely collapsed.
- Blurred Ad Recognition, Children aged 7–12 typically recognise only the most overt advertising formats. Influencer promotions, gaming integrations and vlog sponsorships often register as organic entertainment. Children aged 13–15 show greater ad literacy but remain highly susceptible to narrative-integrated, passion-driven and emotionally resonant brand messaging. Discernment remains low across the board in a non-stop stream.
ASCI CEO and secretary general Manisha Kapoor said, “ASCI Academy’s study is an investigation into the content life of Generation Alpha not to judge them but to understand them. Their cultural reference points seem disjointed from those of earlier generations. Insights on how they perceive advertising is the first step towards building more responsible engagement frameworks, given that they are the youngest media consumers in our country right now.”
Futurebrands Consulting founder and director Santosh Desai added, “While earlier generations have been exposed to digital media, for this generation it is the world they inhabit. This report explores not only what they watch but how they are being shaped by algorithms, content and advertising.”
The study proposes four adaptive, principles-led pathways:
- Universal signposting of commercial intent using design principles that make advertising recognisable even to young audiences.
- Ecosystem-wide responsibility shared among advertisers, platforms, creators, schools and parents.
- Future-ready safeguards built directly into children’s content experiences rather than as optional background settings.
- Formal media and advertising literacy embedded in school curricula to teach age-appropriate understanding of persuasion and commercial intent.
In a feed that never pauses, Gen Alpha isn’t merely watching content, they’re swimming in an ocean where entertainment, commerce and identity swirl together. The real question isn’t whether they can spot an ad; it’s whether the adults building the ocean can agree on where the lifeguards should stand.
