Brands
michael kors buys versace for a staggering 212 bn
MUMBAI: Star continues to rule the south regions – Malayalam and Telugu with channels Asianet and Star Maa, while ZEEL’s regional channels Zee Bangla and Zee Marathi continue to rule their respective languages of Bengali and Marathi with Zee Bangla and Zee Marathi after BARC released its ratings for week 29. This week Colors Bangla didn’t do well and came down to fifth position, but in the Tamil market, Colors Tamil came as a new entrant. There wasn’t much change in the hierarchy for Bhojpuri, Kannada and Tamil with Big Ganga, Colors Kannada and Sun TV retaining their top slots.
Bangla
Zee Bangla continued to be placed in number one position in week 29 with an increase in viewership from 276815 impressions (000s) as recorded last week to 306953 impressions (000s) this week. Star Jalsha too remained in the second slot with 299539 impressions (000s) followed by Jalsha Movies, who maintained its third slot with 74170 impressions (000s). Colors Bangla and Aakash Aath exchanged their fourth and fifth positions this week with 56003 impressions (000s) and 59257 impressions (000s) respectively. This week, all channels in this market saw an increase in the viewership as compared to last week.
Bhojpuri
This week, Big Ganga managed to gain the highest number of viewership with 47281 impressions (000s), while Bhojpuri Cinema came second with 45442 impressions (000s), followed by Bhojpuri Dhamaka Dishum with 7230 impressions (000s). Mahuaa Plus climbed to fourth position from fifth with 2333 impressions (000s). Oscar Movies Bhojpuri came as a new entrant this week with impressions 1908 impressions (000s).
Kannada
Kannada region remained unchanged this week as well. Colors Kannada retained its top position but saw a decrease in viewership from 414372 impressions (000s) as recorded last week to 403690 impressions (000s) of this week. Zee Kannada and Star Suvarna retained their second and fifth positions with 382100 impressions (000s) and 151063 (000s) respectively. Udaya Movies and Udaya TV swapped their third and fourth positions this week with 228477 impressions (000s) and 2237431 impressions (000s) respectively.
Malayalam
Asianet, the Malayalam general entertainment channel of Star TV retained its first position this week as well with 299541 impressions (000s). Flowers TV got dragged down to fourth position from second position with 85860 impressions (000s) while Mazhavil Manorama crawled up to second position with 90247 impressions (000s). Surya TV and Asianet Movies retained their third and fifth positions this week with 86420 impressions (000s) and 75016 (000s) impressions respectively.
Marathi
This week, the Marathi market didn’t notice any change. Zee Marathi remained steadfast in the number one position with 279070 impressions (000s). Zee Talkies gained second position with 154940 impressions (000s) followed by Colors Marathi, Star Pravah and Zee Yuva in third, fourth and fifth positions with 145457 impressions (000s), 116852 impressions (000s) and 59103 impressions (000s) respectively. This week all the channels in this market saw an increase in viewership.
Tamil
Tamil market saw a slight change this week. Star Vijay, Zee Tamil and KTV retained their second, third and fourth positions with 496816 impressions (000s), 447840 impressions (000s) and 320731 impressions (000s). Sun TV retained its top position with a gross viewership of 1004673. This week Colors Tamil gained fifth position dethroning Sun Life with 78973 impressions (000s).
Telugu
Telugu region didn’t notice any change this week. Star Maa, Zee Telugu, ETV Telugu and Gemini TV retained their first, second, third and fourth positions with total viewership of 630131 impressions (000s), 545142 impressions (000s), 490403 impressions (000s) and 424919 impressions (000s) respectively. Gemini Movies also retained its fifth position with 200644 impressions (000s). This week all the channels in this region saw an increase in their gross viewership.
Brands
Uber launches hotel bookings feature in partnership with Expedia
From hotel bookings to room service at your door, the ride-hailing giant is making its boldest push yet into everyday life
CALIFORNIA: Uber is done being just a taxi app. At its annual GO-GET product event, the world’s leading mobility and delivery platform unveiled a sweeping set of new features designed to plant itself at the centre of how people travel, eat and shop, hotel bookings included.
The headline move is a partnership with Expedia Group that lets Uber users in the United States book hotels directly within the Uber app, with access to a catalogue that will eventually grow to more than 700,000 properties worldwide. Uber One members get 10 per cent back in Uber One credits on all hotel bookings and savings of at least 20 per cent on a rolling list of more than 10,000 hotels globally. Vacation rentals from Vrbo, Expedia Group’s home-rental brand, will be added later this year. The partnership is expected to expand beyond the United States. From June, Uber rides will also be integrated directly into the Expedia app, with push notifications sent to travellers ahead of hotel check-in to book discounted Uber rides for the duration of their stay.
Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Uber, framed the expansion in terms of the modern condition. “Uber is becoming an app for everything, helping people go, get, and now travel all in one place,” he said. “We’re all living through a moment of real cognitive overload: too many apps, too many decisions, too much noise. At the end of the day, our job is to help people reclaim their time, spending less of it managing the logistics of life and more of it actually living.”
Ariane Gorin, chief executive of Expedia Group, struck a similarly ambitious note. “Travel should feel effortless, and this partnership gets us one step closer to offering a seamless traveller experience,” she said. “By connecting our two-sided marketplace with Uber, we’re bringing Uber rides directly into the Expedia app and Expedia Group’s lodging inventory into the Uber app through our Rapid API technology. Together, we’re helping travellers spend less time planning and more time enjoying the journey.”
Beyond hotels, the product announcements come thick and fast. Travel Mode, available within both the Uber and Uber Eats apps, offers curated recommendations on local favourites, tourist destinations, OpenTable restaurant reservations and on-demand delivery to hotel rooms. Uber One International means the membership programme now works globally, allowing members to earn credits on rides abroad that can be redeemed once back home. A new Shop for Me feature lets users request items from any store, even those not listed on the app. Eats for the Way allows riders in select cities booking an Uber Black or Uber Black SUV to have a drink or snack waiting for them in the car. Voice Bookings, powered by artificial intelligence, lets users book a ride conversationally, without touching their phone. And a redesigned One Search bar consolidates results for places, food and items across the entire Uber platform in a single query.
Uber has now logged more than 72 billion trips since it launched in 2010. The question it is now answering is what comes after the ride. The answer, apparently, is everything else. Whether users want a hotel in Paris, a coffee in the back of a car or a snake plant from the local garden centre, Uber would very much like to be the one to provide it. The app economy’s land grab has a new front-runner.
NOTE: The image used is AI generated and only for representational purposes.
