MAM
Promax & BDA: NBC’s ‘The Agency’ dominates
MUMBAI: The Promax, 2005 BDA Awards and 2005 Promax &BDA world gold awards, a combined ceremony which took place at the Marriott Marquis hotel in New York saw the MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann, being recognized for his role as host of the hit nightly newscast, Countdown.
The highlights from the awards show were as follows:
Alfred Greenberg and Tom Dawson were honoured by a standing ovation as two of the original founding fathers of Promax &BDA. Mary Kellogg, Mike Mischler and Martin Lambie-Nairn were inducted into the Promax Hall of fame.
NBC’s The Agency dominated the North American categories, taking home an unprecedented 28 Promax Awards. The creative services agency picked up 19 golds and nine silvers for everything from copywriting to program promotion across various genres to marketing presentation, sound design and music package. The 2005 Aerodrome Rocket Award, which recognises the work of an outstanding producer, marketer or designer with four or less years of experience in promotion, marketing or design, went to Adam Swaab of Blur Studios.
Other big winners in the North America division were Voom, with 12 golds and 11 silvers, and Canadian-based Alliance Atlantis with 14 golds and four silvers. Direct TV picked up eight gold and six silver; while the combined wins of WB Television Network (four golds and seven silvers), The WB100+ Station Group (seven golds and two silvers), Warner Brothers (three golds and one silvers), Warner Brothers International Television (one gold and one silver) and Warner Brothers Domestic Cable Distribution (one gold), gave the group a family win of 27 Promax Awards. WNBC, the NBC affiliate in New York City, was the big individual station winner, picking up five golds and three silver PROMAX Awards.
Among the international world gold Promax Award winners, BBC Broadcast led the way with 21 awards, earning 13 Gold and eight Silver. Star India took home nine golds and six silvers, while Fox International Italy picked up eight golds and six silvers. Two companies tied with a total of 12 awards each. BSkyB picked up four golds and eight silvers; while Seven Network Australia took home five golds and seven silvers World Gold Promax Awards.
Asia’s Star Group picked up the most World Gold BDA Awards with six golds, eight silvers and 12 bronzes. BSkyB picked up a total of 13 World Gold BDA Awards, with six Gold, three Silver and four Bronze. Close behind was Mexico-based OnceTV, which picked up six Gold, five Silver and one Bronze for a total of 12.
On the North American front, Fox Sports dominated with a total of 23 BDA Awards, with eight Gold, ten Silver and five Bronze. Turner Classic Movies had a total of 16 awards with 12 Gold, three Silver and one Bronze; while Comedy Central four Gold, three Silver and five Bronze for a total of 12 BDA Awards.
Promax &BDA CEO Jim Chabin paid special thanks to Joe Revello for producing the show. Following the festivities, Paramount sponsored Entertainment Tonight, the post-awards show party in the Broadway Lounge of the Marriott Marquis.
Brands
Reserve Bank of India cancels Paytm Payments Bank licence
Central bank cites compliance failures; curbs tighten as wind-up looms
MUMBAI: India’s banking watchdog delivered its sharpest blow yet to Paytm Payments Bank, cancelling its licence and effectively ending its ability to operate as a bank under the law.
The Reserve Bank of India said the entity can no longer conduct banking business under the Banking Regulation Act, citing concerns that its affairs were not being run in the interest of depositors or the public and that it had failed to meet licence conditions.
The move escalates a crackdown that has been building for months. The bank had already been barred from onboarding new customers since March 11, 2022, and later faced restrictions on deposits, credit and wallet top-ups. In January 2024, the central bank ordered it to stop accepting fresh deposits, pointing to persistent non-compliance, including lapses in customer due diligence, use of funds and technology systems.
Operationally, the bank is now on a tight leash. It may process withdrawals of existing deposits and facilitate loan referrals through banking correspondents, but it cannot take fresh deposits.
The central bank said it would apply to the high court to wind up the bank.
Paytm sought to ringfence the fallout. In a regulatory filing, it said the licence cancellation applies to Paytm Payments Bank Limited, a separate entity, and should not be attributed to One 97 Communications. It added that there is no exposure or material business arrangement with the bank and that it operates independently, without Paytm’s board or management involvement.
“As informed earlier, Paytm (One 97 Communications Limited) and its services, which have been operating without interruption, will continue to operate uninterrupted. These include the Paytm app, Paytm UPI, Paytm Gold and all other services offered by its subsidiaries and associated companies,” the company said.
The distinction may reassure users of the app ecosystem, but the regulator’s verdict is unequivocal. After years of warnings, caps and curbs, the payments bank experiment at Paytm is being shut down—decisively, and with little room left to manoeuvre.
