News Broadcasting
Merck India Unveils Consumer and Lifestyle Inspirations 2014-15
MUMBAI : Colour is an element as important as design; however colour trends, though reflecting the spirit of times, could change frequently. For example, silver gaining popularity worldwide, thanks to the wave of high tech products.
One of the questions that perennially plague most manufacturers and product developers is determining the defining colour in the coming year. From a developer’s perspective, ‘colour sells; but the right colour sells better’ and thus they are in a constant search for the upcoming colour and trend preferences.
Performance Materials India, a division of Merck, is a leader in effect pigments. Every year it brings together experts and undertakes extensive research to predict colours that consumers will prefer in the coming years. It today unveiled the ‘Consumer and Lifestyle Inspirations 2014-15’, a colour forecast for the printing, plastics and coatings industries in India.
Some of the trends that consumer and lifestyle inspirations highlighted are:
• Warm effect colors like matte oranges, reds and deep chocolate browns would gain prominence.
• They would be complemented by bold colours like electric / cobalt blues, purples and pinks.
• For consumer electronic appliances, silver would play a lesser role as consumers gravitate towards colours with higher chroma, effect and emotion. Individual expression takes precedence.
• Black is no longer simply monochromatic; it gets reinvented and takes on a sparkly hue.
Commenting on occasion of the unveiling, Filip Roscam, Creative Design Manager, Merck KGaA, said, “The purpose of the report is to introduce the latest global colour trends and apply them to local products. This offers customers an opportunity to predict future trends and create demand for their products. Colours help consumer express their identity and individuality; thereby equipping manufacturers to satisy their customers’ needs.”
Dr. Aniruddha Paul, Head, Regional Marketing Asia (Decorative) said, “Being a global leader in the pearlescent pigment market, Merck’s Performance Materials Division focuses on creating new demand by actively developing products and predicting colour trends. We predict trends each year for various industries such as plastics, printings and coatings, and are confident that the Indian market will benefit immensely from it.”
News Broadcasting
News TV viewership jumps 33 per cent as West Asia war draws audiences
BARC Week 8 data shows news share rising to 8 per cent despite T20 World Cup
NEW DELHI: Even as individual television news channel ratings remain under a temporary pause, the genre itself is seeing a clear surge in audience attention.
According to the latest data from Broadcast Audience Research Council India, television news recorded a 33 per cent jump in genre share in Week 8 of 2026, covering February 28 to March 6.
The news genre accounted for 8 per cent of total television viewership during the week, up from 6 per cent the previous week. The spike in attention coincided with escalating geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which have kept global headlines firmly fixed on West Asia.
The rise is notable because it came at a time when cricket was dominating television screens. The high-stakes stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, including the Super 8 fixtures and semi-finals, were being broadcast during the same period.
Despite the cricket frenzy, viewers appeared to be toggling between sport and global affairs, boosting the overall share of news programming.
The surge in genre share comes even as the government has enforced a one-month pause on publishing ratings for individual news channels. The move followed regulatory scrutiny of the television ratings ecosystem.
While channel-level rankings remain temporarily out of sight, the genre-level data suggests that when global tensions escalate, audiences continue to turn to television news for real-time updates.
