GECs
Zee is most trusted television brand: Brand Trust Report 2016
BENGALURU: Last year, the Subhash Chandra led Zee brand was ranked at first place in the Media category in Blue Lotus Communications’ Most Attractive Brands 2015 Report (MAB 2015) by the TRA (formerly Trust Research Advisory). This year, the sixth edition of the Brand Trust Report (BTR) brought out by the same company, ranks Zee as the most trusted brand in the Media–TV category.
Zee is also the most trusted brand in the Hindi GEC category as per the report. Zee’s ranking among the top 1,000 trusted brands in India has improved by 15 places to 176 all India in BTR-2016 from 191 in BTR-2015. Overall, across all categories of Media in India, Zee is the third most trusted brand in India as per BTR-2016.
In the Media-TV category, Zee is followed by Star Gold and Zee News in descending order of BTR ranks.
In the Television Hindi-GEC category, Zee is followed by Star Gold at second place which at BTR rank of 224. Star Gold has entered the list for the first time. Star Plus at third place has BTR ranking of 328 in 2016 as compared to 579 in 2015.
As per the report, Zee Media Corporation’s Zee News is the most trusted brand in the Television-Hindi News category and the third most trusted brand in the Media-TV category. Zee News has entered BTR’s most trusted 1,000 brands with a ranking of 226, just two places lower than Star Gold.
In the Television-Hindi-News category, Zee News is followed by Aaj Tak with a BTR ranking of 238 in 2016 as compared to 947 in the previous year’s edition. ABP News stands at third place in the category with a rank of 436, declining by 84 places from the rank of 352 in BTR-2015. Television-English News has only one entry-BBC with a BTR-2016 ranking of 538 as compared to a BTR-2015 ranking of 583.
In BTR-2016, Hindustan Times leads all media brands across all media categories in India with a BTR rank of 112, with an improvement of 316 ranks. Last year Hindustan Times had a BTR rank of 428. As mentioned above, overall among all Media brands, Zee stands at number 3, behind Fever FM which has entered the BTR rankings with a rank of 156 this year.
In the Media-Radio FM category, Fever FM is followed by 92.7 Big FM with a BTR rank of 370 in 2016 as compared to a BTR rank of 890 last year. At third place is 98.3 Radio Mirchi FM with a BTR rank of 533 in this year as compared to a BTR rank of 904 last year.
Hindustan Times leads the Media-Print category in Newspapers-English, followed by The Times of India with a BTR ranking of 205 in 2016 as against a ranking of 340 last year. ZMCL’s print publication DNA stands third in the category with a BTR rank of 240 in this year as compared to a rank of 626 last year.
The Brand Trust Report, India Study, is a comparison of the trust held in brands. TRA says that BTR-2016, the sixth in its series, is the result of a comprehensive primary research conducted on the proprietary 61-Attribute Trust Matrix of TRA. This year’s study involved 18000 hours of fieldwork covering 2,500 consumer-influencers across 16 cities in India and generated 6 million datapoints and 20,000 unique brands from which the top 1000 brands have been listed in this year’s report. The 200 page, hardbound report is available for Rs. 14,000/-.
GECs
Asianet Television Awards 2026 celebrates women power in Malayalam TV
“She is the Colour” theme honours icons as ceremony airs on March 14 and 15 at 7 PM.
MUMBAI: If television lights up living rooms, this year Asianet decided to let women provide the colour. The Asianet Television Awards 2026 turned the spotlight firmly on women empowerment with the theme “She is the Colour”, celebrating the strength, resilience and achievements of women who continue to shape society and the Malayalam entertainment industry.
The ceremony honoured several distinguished personalities whose journeys have left a lasting cultural imprint. Among them was legendary playback singer Vimala Varma, widely recognised as the first Malayalam playback singer. The evening also paid tribute to Padma Shri awardees Devaki Amma and Vimala Menon for their exceptional contributions in their respective fields.
Leading women from the Malayalam film industry were also recognised during the event, including actor Shweta Menon, who currently serves as president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists, and National Award winning actor Surabhi Lakshmi.
The awards ceremony brought together a glittering lineup of actors and industry figures, including Jayasurya, Vijay Babu, Asha Sarath, Lena, Esther Anil, Anumol, Akhila Bhargavan, Sarayu Mohan, Prajod Kalabhavan, Gayathri Suresh, Sabumon Abdusamad, Swasika, Tini Tom, Sijoy Varghese, Kailash, Veena Nandakumar, Sabareesh Varma, Ansiba Hassan and Dinesh Prabhakar. Kishan Kumar, executive vice president Malayalam at JioStar, was also present at the event.
Beyond individual recognitions, the awards celebrated excellence across Malayalam television, acknowledging artists and technicians whose work continues to drive the industry forward.
The evening also offered plenty of spectacle, with elaborate dance performances, stunt acts and comedy skits performed by popular television and film personalities, turning the ceremony into a full fledged entertainment showcase.
Viewers will get to watch the celebrations when the Asianet Television Awards 2026 air on Asianet on March 14 and 15, Saturday and Sunday, from 7 pm onwards, bringing the star studded tribute to homes across Kerala and beyond.
