GECs
Google continues growing in popularity in the UK
MUMBAI: comScore Networks, which provides measurement services for the internet and other digital media has revealed the top UK Internet properties for October, based on data collected through its comScore World Metrix audience ratings service.
The world’s most valuable media firm Google (not including its recent acquisition YouTube) edged out software major Microsoft in October to become the most-visited Web property in the UK. eBay is in third position.
Yahoo!, BBC and Time Warner are also present in the top 10 most popular sites in the UK. comScore Europe MD Bob Ivins says, “We have watched the popularity of Google consistently grow over time. While the current month-over-month increase was small, it was just enough to earn them the number one spot.
“Also notable was YouTube’s 24 per cent increase in traffic in October. YouTube’s ascent in popularity around the world and in the UK, demonstrated by the site’s month-after-month double-digit percentage increases, has been remarkable.”
It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas
Retail sites represented nearly half of the top 20 gaining sites in the U.K. in October, indicating an early interest in holiday shopping. Leading the top gainers were Woolworths Group with 2.6 million visitors and HMV with 2.4 million visitors, growing 65 and 30 per cent respectively.
UK traffic to the Wal-Mart Web property, which includes ASDA, grew 14 per cent to 2.3 million visitors. Littlewoods Shop Direct Group grew 12 per cent to 3.9 million visitors, followed by Tesco Stores (also a top 20 site), which
grew 12 per cent to 6.7 million visitors. Other retail sites rounding out the list of top gainers include Marks&Spencer, up 10 per cent to 2.4 million visitors; Play.com sites, up 10 percent to 3.6 million visitors; and Dixons Stores Group, up 10 percent to 4.2 million visitors.
In addition to shopping, Britons were pparently busy booking holiday travel in October, with traffic to British Airways gaining 26 percent to 3.5 million visitors and British Midland gaining 11 per cent to 2.6 million visitors.
GECs
Sony ties up with EU for MasterChef India finale
GI-tagged European ingredients headline finale week
MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India has struck what it calls a landmark association with the European Union for the finale week of MasterChef India, marking the first such collaboration between the bloc and an Indian television format.
The tie-up will culminate in the “European Union mystery box challenge”, which opens the much-anticipated finale week. The task will see the top six contestant pairs cook with a curated basket of ingredients bearing geographical indications (GIs) from across EU member states: a nod to provenance as well as palate.
Chef Ajay and Chef Guntas, introduced as chef ambassadors to the European Union, will present the mystery boxes and set the brief: use the fewest ingredients from each category and produce a MasterChef-level dish that marries European produce with Indian flavour sensibilities. Precision and restraint, rather than extravagance, will be tested.
For Sony, the move signals a push towards high-value integrations that blur the line between sponsorship and storytelling. The network said the association underscores the show’s growing global stature and its ability to attract world-renowned institutions to Indian screens.
Chef Ajay Chopra, food ambassador in the European Union, described the collaboration as a strategic opportunity to spotlight the heritage and authenticity of GI-tagged European products to India’s vast food-loving audience.
Over the years, MasterChef India has positioned itself as a gateway to global cuisines. The EU partnership sharpens that pitch, turning the finale into a stage for cross-continental culinary diplomacy.
The finale week will air from 2 March, 2026 at 8 pm on Sony Entertainment Television and stream on Sony Liv.
