MAM
IPL6 takes Max to the top of the GRP charts
MUMBAI: It‘s not only Gayle, Bravo and Pollard who have been hitting the maximum in the sixth season of the Indian Premier League. Sony Max has trumped Star India‘s flagship Hindi general entertainment channel Star Plus to take the lead in the GRP race for week 17 of TAM.
As per TAM data (C&S, 4+, HSM) provided by Max, the channel has notched 248 GRPs in the fourth week of the tournament, making it the number one channel in India. Star Plus managed to collect 215 GRPs (last week 233) in the week ended 27 April.
Meanwhile, Max and Sony Six collectively garnered 304 GRPs.
The tournament also continues to beat all competition in prime time. Pepsi IPL‘s average primetime viewership is at 3.6 TVR as compared to Star Plus‘s 2.0 TVR, Colors 1.6 and Zee TV at 1.7 TVR in the Hindi Speaking Market (HSM).
Pepsi IPL 6 also registered a reach of 168 million viewers in just four weeks and has already surpassed the total reach of any of the previous editions of the league. Sony Max EVP and business head Neeraj Vyas said, “Our ratings of this week reiterate the fact that Pepsi IPL 2013 is the biggest entertainer of the year. We are indeed delighted to see that it has already achieved such incredible reach just halfway through the tournament. We are thrilled that it continues to offer spectacular entertainment to our viewers and unparalleled value to our partners.”
On the Hindi GEC Space, Zee TV has emerged as the biggest gainer of the Hindi GECs genre in the week 17 of TAM‘s ratings. The flagship Hindi GEC from Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zeel), added around 22 GRPs to register 191 GRPs. Almost all the shows of the channel have witnessed improvement in numbers.
As per TAM data (HSM including 5 new LC1 markets, C&S, 4+) sourced from a channel, the pecking order of the Hindi GECs remained the same in week 17 of TAM, with Star Plus leading the flock followed by Zee TV, Colors, Set, Sab, Life OK and Sahara One at No.2,3,4,5,6 positions respectively.
Star Plus launched its new dancing reality show ‘India‘s Dancing Superstar‘ on 27 April that opened with a 2.5 TVR. The show replaced Nach Baliye Sriman vs Shrimati that concluded with a 1.8 TVR on 21 April. The other shows of the channel have seen a drop in eyeballs.
Colors, the Viacom18 channel, has lost three GRPs to register 164 GRPs.
Following Colors is Sony that had premiered the Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma starrer ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan‘ on 21 April. The movie clocked a 2.4 TVR in its first airing on Indian television.
The Yash Chopra-directed movie ran for around four hours from 7.30 pm, helping the channel get around 19 gross rating points (GRPs). Set ended the week with 150 GRPs. Sab is next with 125 GRPs (last week 123) while Life OK closed the week with 101 GRPs (103 GRPs).
Sahara One with 20 GRPs (last week 21 GRPs) remained at the bottom of the channel ladder.
MAM
Madison World to launch AI platform M BrAIn for media planning
Agency group invests about $1 million as it shifts to AI driven growth planning.
MUMBAI: If media planning once ran on spreadsheets and gut instinct, the next chapter may run on algorithms and curiosity. Madison World is preparing to roll out the first version of its proprietary artificial intelligence platform Madison M BrAIn in early April, as the independent agency group accelerates its transition toward AI driven planning and product led media services.
The platform, expected to involve an investment of around $1 million, is designed to reshape how the agency approaches strategy by combining internal knowledge, external data sources and advanced AI models into a single intelligence ecosystem.
According to Madison Media, OOH and Hiveminds partner and group CEO Ajit Varghese the initiative forms part of a larger structural rethink within the organisation. “Traditionally agencies built frameworks around media planning and allocation. We are redesigning that structure into what we call a Growth Planning System (GPS),” Varghese said.
The shift reflects a growing belief that effective media strategy must begin earlier in the decision making process. Instead of jumping directly to channel allocation, planners must first decode the market itself identifying consumer barriers, purchase triggers and the core challenges facing a brand.
Once those insights are mapped, agencies can build clearer growth agendas for clients and design media strategies that connect more closely with business outcomes.
To support that approach, Madison has built Madison M BrAIn as what it describes as a human AI cognitive ecosystem. Acting as a central intelligence hub, the platform aggregates proprietary insights alongside external data sources and large language models, enabling planners to access deeper market intelligence before building campaign strategies.
Varghese said one of the core objectives is to democratise knowledge across the organisation. “In the past, this level of understanding was largely available to senior leaders or experienced strategists. With Madison M BrAIn, even a junior planner should be able to access the same intelligence and approach clients with a far more informed perspective,” he said.
The agency has already implemented the new planning philosophy internally and completed three months of testing for the AI platform, with early trials showing encouraging results in terms of learning capability and system performance.
While the first version relied on global large language models, Madison is now developing its own proprietary Small Language Model (SLM) to serve as the core of the M BrAIn ecosystem.
“The SLM will be able to read global LLMs, but the LLMs cannot read the SLM,” Varghese explained. “That ensures all the intelligence we build remains within the Madison ecosystem and strengthens our proprietary knowledge base.”
The first version of Madison M BrAIn is expected to go live in early April, with a more refined version targeted by the end of June. Over time, the platform will integrate additional external data streams and APIs including consumer insight platforms, social listening tools and client datasets.
These integrations are expected to enhance the system’s learning capability and enable it to generate increasingly sophisticated strategic recommendations.
Although the platform is currently being deployed for internal use, Madison sees potential for it to evolve into a licensable product in the future.
“At the moment, our focus is to stabilise and strengthen M BrAIn internally. But over time there is potential for this to become a product that could be licensed externally,” Varghese said.
The AI platform is also part of a wider technology transformation underway at the agency group. Alongside M BrAIn, Madison is building a broader digital infrastructure called the Catalyst operating system, which aims to integrate operational processes, data and product platforms into a unified ecosystem.
This broader technology stack could require an additional $1 million to $1.5 million investment over time, though spending will be phased and reviewed regularly.
“We are evaluating progress every three months and prioritising the most critical capabilities first,” Varghese said.
Madison expects the full AI and operating ecosystem to be fully functional within 12 to 18 months, positioning the agency to combine human strategy with machine intelligence as the advertising industry enters its next data driven phase.
