MAM
My11Circle rolls out new campaign ‘Lalkaar Ladkiyon Ki’
Mumbai: A leading creative-tech and digital-first marketing agency DViO Digital has launched a new campaign ‘Lalkaar Ladkiyon Ki’ for fantasy cricket app My11Circle. The campaign is dedicated to promoting and building momentum for the Women’s T20 World Cup – a tournament to showcase women’s representation in the largest cricket league in the world.
Set in the backdrop of prominent women cricketers practising and preparing for the match, the 45-seconds video narrates how women have shown resilience and grit to leave a mark in the field of cricket.
The digital film highlights their efforts of gumption to glory over the everlasting criticism and feeling of self-doubt. It talks about how these women have used their circumstances as their aegis to overcome the challenges that come their way. The video ends with a strong message that sports are not only for men, and this time we should listen to and support ‘Lalkaar Ladkiyon Ki’, which translates to ‘challenge of the women’.
Speaking about the campaign, DViO Digital founder and CEO Sowmya Iyer said, “Women have been thriving in sports for over a decade now. While the landscape for women’s cricket has made exceptional strides in the past few years, there is a lot of sweat, blood and tears these women put in to make their place in a male-dominant sport like cricket. Through this campaign, we wanted to celebrate the rigour, passion and work those women put in when they strive to outdo themselves as athletes”.
Speaking on the association with Women’s T20 Challenge, My11Circle director-brand and marketing strategy Avik Das Kanungo said, “The women in blue have been a true inspiration for millions of young girls eager to venture into sports, and their support has multiplied since 2017. As the title sponsor of Women T20 Challenge 2022, we at My11Circle, wanted to give the women in cricket the same pedestal and hear them roar. ‘Lalkaar Ladkiyon Ki’ is a small tribute to celebrate their exemplary performance and constant efforts to promote women’s cricket in India.”
MAM
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.
