News Broadcasting
Coke upbeat about success of ‘thanda’ TVC
NEW DELHI: Coca Cola claims to have stolen a march over arch rival Pepsi with its new thanda theme TVC yielding much more dividend than anticipated.
Coca Cola India CEO and president Alex Von Behr said at the recent CII-organised marketing summit The Business of Marketing, that Coke’s cool new commercial with Aamir Khan in the lead had a higher recall than Pepsi’s ad featuring superstar Amitabh Bachchan.
Quoting Continuous Consumer Track data culled from small towns and those falling under SEC C & D categories, Behr said that while Coca Cola’s thanda commercial had a recall value of 21.3, that of Pepsi was a mere 8.9 as measured on 10 May this year. On other days too, Coke’s thanda ad was ahead of Pepsi, he claimed. On 15 March, the recall value for Coke’s ad was 0.6, while that of Pepsi’s was 0.5, on 22 March, for Coke it was 2.9, while that of Pepsi was 1.3. Over a period of time, the data shows the recall value of Coke’s ad has been rising, he said.
Dwelling on the juices market, Behr said that teens and young adults (12-29 years) constitute the core of Maaza volumes currently. “However, this is also the core target group for all carbonated drinks too,” he said, adding, “Maaza or any other juice drink as a category can never compete with carbonated drinks in terms of visibility or appeal of proposition (imagery).” That’s why, Behr pointed out, Coca Cola India took the risk to “position Maaza to a target audience that affords better growth prospects.” So, Maaza is being repositioned to target mothers of 7-9 year olds from young adults. The communication strategy is also being changed from a combination of health and fun to friendship moments (between mother and child) with fresh and healthy Maaza, he said.
News Broadcasting
Network18 channels lead YouTube news viewership in March 2026
CNN-News18, News18 India and CNBC channels top categories with record views
MUMBAI: When the world hit refresh on breaking news, Network18’s channels were already streaming ahead. As geopolitical tensions and war-driven headlines fuelled a surge in global news consumption, the network’s digital playbook delivered big clocking record Youtube viewership across English, Hindi and business news categories in March 2026.
At the forefront was CNN-News18, which emerged as the clear leader in the English news segment with 130 million live and video-on-demand views. The channel edged past competitors such as Times of India (126.5 million), Times Now (101.1 million), India Today (88.2 million) and NDTV (77.5 million), according to Databeings data for March.
In the Hindi news arena, News18 India delivered a commanding performance, racking up a staggering 3,297 million views on YouTube. The channel comfortably outpaced NDTV India, which recorded 3,119 million views, underlining its deep reach and consistent engagement with mass audiences, as per Playboard data.
The network’s dominance wasn’t confined to general news. In the Hindi business segment, CNBC Awaaz topped the charts with 92 million views, narrowly ahead of Zee Business (90 million) and well ahead of ET Now Swadesh (57 million). Meanwhile, its English counterpart CNBC-TV18 posted a strong 58 million views, reinforcing the network’s cross-category strength.
The spike in viewership reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour, with viewers increasingly turning to digital platforms particularly Youtube for real-time updates and in-depth coverage during high-intensity news cycles. For Network18, the numbers signal more than just scale; they underline the effectiveness of a multi-platform strategy that blends speed, credibility and continuous coverage.
In a month where the news never paused, it seems viewers chose to stay tuned where the stream never stopped.
