Ganesh Utsav, the vibrant and spiritually enriching festival dedicated to Lord Ganesha, is a time of immense joy and devotion in India. To further illuminate the festive spirit of this auspicious occasion, Zee 24 TAAS has announced 'Sukhkarta,' encouraging citizens to delve deep into the profound significance of Lord Ganesha and the divine celebration.

'Sukhkarta' brings to light the divine fervour to life through live broadcasts of sacred rituals, devotional melodies, and captivating cultural performances. It offers viewers an exclusive window into the real-time proceedings of sacred ceremonies, the soothing notes of devotional songs that touch the soul, and captivating cultural showcases.

This extraordinary programming also offers viewers a front-row seat to witness the pilgrimage to the eight Ganesh temples in the Maharashtra state of India, each of which houses a unique idol of Lord Ganesha. Each temple has its distinct legend and history, making them as diverse as the revered murtis. Additionally, the wide audience of Zee 24 TAAS will have the opportunity to witness live coverage of the Ganesh Visarjan ceremony, where the idol of Lord Ganesha is immersed in a body of water.

Expressing the profound sentiment of the festive season, Nilesh Khare, Editor of Zee 24 TAAS, said, "As Lord Ganesh is revered as the god of art, 'Sukhkarta' serves as a tribute to the artistry of life, embracing its diverse facets through the expressions of talented artists. We celebrate the creative spirit that infuses every aspect of our existence, just as Lord Ganesh inspires artistry in all of us."

"With 'Sukhkarta,' we embark on a journey to illuminate the profound cultural and spiritual significance of Ganesh Utsav. Our pilgrimage to the sacred Ashtavinayak temples symbolizes our commitment to preserving and sharing the deep-rooted traditions of Maharashtra,” further highlighted Abhay Ojha, CEO of Zee Media Corporation Limited.

Beyond the cultural and spiritual offerings, 'Sukhkarta' on Zee 24 TAAS also featured an engaging modak contest, a delectable nod to the sweet treat cherished by Lord Ganesha.

Co-presented by Mahindra Oja Tractor & Amrith Noni - Pain Relief Spray, the Zee24 TAAS 'Sukhkarta' is powered by Nirma Shudh Namak, its special partners are Gokul, Dear Government Lottery, its associate sponsors are K-Pra Foods, Mandke Hearing Services-Pune, Kirti Agarbatti & Calton Paint.

Bharat Express News Network has announced the appointment of young journalist from Jammu & Kashmir, Yana Mir as its Senior Anchor.

In addition to the news and current affairs from Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh, Yana Mir will also be looking into prominent national news in her new role.

Prior to joining Bharat Express, Ms Yana Mir was Bureau Head of ITV Kashmir, based out of Srinagar, and has also worked as an Editor for The Real Kashmir and TRK News. Ms Yana Mir has also been known as the First YouTube Vlogger from Kashmir and has been actively highlighting the plight of Kashmiri women and youth through her ground zero reports. She has also been a TEDx Speaker from Polo view, Srinagar and an active advocate for the displaced Kashmiri Pandits.

Commenting on the appointment, CMD & Editor-in-Chief, Bharat Express, Mr Upendrra Rai, said, “Ms Yana Mir is a promising and talented journalist from Kashmir. Her ground-breaking work, especially for youth & women in the valley is highly commendable and I am pleased to welcome her to our channel”

“I can focus on ground reporting while still anchoring or doing shows” says Anjana Om Kashyap to her AI avatar

Aaj Tak being the industry’s torchbearer, continues to establish its leadership with India’s first ever AI Anchor modelled on a ‘living’ anchor. India’s most popular Hindi news anchor and Aaj Tak’s prolific news presenter, Anjana Om Kashyap, will now be complemented with an AI Avatar, Anjana 2.0.

In the history of Indian Broadcast Journalism, no other channel has consistently introduced such groundbreaking technological innovations. With general elections around the corner, Anjana and Anjana 2.0 will be seen in a formidable partnership both on-ground and on-screen. Anjana is the Managing Editor of 'Aaj Tak' and has gained a country-wide popularity for her shows ‘Halla Bol’ and ‘Special Reports’. Introduced on prime time on Tuesday, the AI avatar has already started to create a buzz on social media with netizens pouring in with their comments.

With Anjana 2.0, Aaj Tak will have its second AI Anchor featuring on the prime-time programming on a national television channel. In the recent past, Aaj Tak had introduced India’s first-ever AI Anchor SANA’ who is gaining success owing to her news presentation and production with wide ranging interviews of State heads, Business leaders, Entertainment megastars etc. In under six months, Sana has already earned numerous accolades both on a national and international scale, including interacting with PM Modi (first AI Anchor to interact with a head of the state), Reading a French bulletin, anchoring a dedicated show on prime-time, and interacted with global business leaders like Brad Smith of Microsoft, celebrities like Shahrukh Khan and TV personality Seema Taparia.

With nearly a third (30.4%) of consumers turning to Instagram when searching for brands, the retail category is set to invest $9.1bn in 2024 as social commerce moves Instagram closer to the point of purchase

WARC Media's Platform Insights: Instagram

Instagram, impacted by the introduction of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy in 2021 and a subsequent weakening of the digital ad market, is recovering stronger than its social media peers.

WARC Media forecasts Instagram’s advertising revenue to reach $71bn in 2024, driven by parent company Meta’s innovation with AI to assist content recommendation and advertising automation processes, as well as improved monetisation of Reels, its short-form video product.

Alex Brownsell, Head of Content, WARC Media, says: “The recovery of Meta’s ad business in 2023 has been one of the most notable media industry stories of the year. Twelve months ago, commentators were warning of a “reckoning” for Big Tech with platforms like Instagram hurting from signal loss resulting from Apple’s ATT policy, alongside a broader slowdown in digital ad investment.

“What a difference a year makes. Buoyed by innovations in AI targeting helping it to offset the impact of ATT and improved monetisation of Reels, it is only a matter of time before Instagram surpasses its Meta stable mate Facebook to become the world’s largest social media platform by ad revenue.”

Providing evidence-based insights on the challenges and opportunities Instagram has to offer, WARC Media’s latest Platform Insights report provides an overview of the key datapoints that advertisers need to know about the platform spanning investment, consumption and performance.

WARC Media forecasts quarterly advertising revenues of $17.7bn in Q4 2023, up 25.8% year-on-year, and predicts its global ad revenue to reach $71bn in 2024

Instagram has recovered strongly following a largely flat 2022 as a result of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy, alongside a broader slowdown in digital ad investment.

Buoyed by innovations in AI targeting to boost consumption levels, spanning content recommendation and asset creation, and improved monetisation of Reels, WARC Media forecasts Instagram to post quarterly advertising revenues in Q4 2023 of $17.7bn, up 25.8% year-on-year, and reach a total of $71bn in 2024.

The growing popularity of social commerce is moving Instagram closer to the point of purchase. The global retail category spend on Instagram will rise from $3.2bn in 2020 to a forecasted $9.1bn in 2024 per WARC Media. Ahead of retail spend, business and industrial ad spend is expected to reach $10.2bn globally, whilst other categories have modest growth.

At the current trajectory, it is only a matter of time before Instagram surpasses Facebook to become the world’s largest social media platform by ad revenue.

Reels is key: Campaigns on Reels reach nearly twice the audience as those on TikTok. Nearly a third (30.4%) of consumers turn to Instagram when searching for brands.

Instagram’s global monthly advertising reach has continued to stand at 1.3 billion over the past two years, slightly ahead of that of TikTok, according to Kepios.

However, the pivot to short-form video with Reels, introduced in 2020, is proving popular with users and brands alike, with plays already exceeding 200 billion per day across Meta products.

Data from Emplifi suggests that campaigns running on Reels will reach, on average, nearly twice the audience as those on TikTok. According to Emplifi, Reels outperformed all other content types on Instagram, generating 55% more interactions than single image posts and 29% more interactions than standard video posts.

According to GWI, nearly a third (30.4%) of consumers turn to Instagram when searching for brands and campaigns.

Instagram’s usage among both Gen Z and Millennials has increased over the past year, in part due to its push into Reels, reaching 60% of younger audiences, ahead of TikTok and Facebook (both 38%).

Instagram is the most popular choice for 90% of influencers

Brands are increasingly partnering with creators to reach niche audiences and find the right cultural moment, and to connect with communities with authenticity.

Central to Instagram’s success is its traditional primacy as a platform for creator and influencer content albeit a dominance being challenged by TikTok.

Instagram is the most popular choice (90%) for influencers, followed by TikTok (63%). 7% of influencer content on Instagram is sponsored.

South India’s Fastest Growing News Brand, News First turns 3 today.

When News First started on September 20th - 2020, it was the most extreme challenging times one can imagine.Started in the midst of Covid Phase 1.

Welcomed without BARC ratings within 4 weeks of launch.

Embraced by Covid Phase 2 soon after.

The rollercoaster in the first 18 months, didn’t deter News First. When the ratings eventually were restored, News First had broken into the Top 5. No mean achievement given the once in the many generations obstacles upfront.

Speaking about this MD & CEO S Ravikumar said “Every moment in our three year journey was about dare and care. This is evident in the number of news breaks we dared to do and the number of stories for the people we carried. We felt the time was right to translate our actions into our brand messaging. The existing tagline shows our softer version. The new tagline adds aggression to the softness.”

Today, News First has become the channel of choice for Politics, Cinema and Cricket. The channel is in the Top 3 in a number of markets, in reach and time bands. The brand is amongst the leaders on Youtube and Facebook too. Three years after being every moment for the people of Karnataka, News First is making a departure.

The channel is embracing the a new tagline, Fearless… For You.

News First had made a name for itself in super quick time with exclusives not seen in Karnataka. This includes political breaks, programming innovations like AI MAYA, high impact investigations like Murugasri Scandal (the notorious religious head) - which no one dared pursue, World Exclusive interview with KGF Director Prashant Neel, Getting Karnataka’s most famous TV legal eagle, TN Seetharam to host a weekend show on the channel - for the First time on Indian News Television …the list goes on.

Editor in Chief Maruthi SH said “Our dares and cares have always been for people in need. But the dares have extended to exclusive shows, exclusive interviews, exclusive concepts and celebrating other achievers’ dares. To that extent, dare has a whole wide range of meanings for us at News First”

Business Head S Divaakar said “Our news content was always our forte. People have helped us grow steadily. The market is seeing it week on week. My team is looking forward to surge with the aggressive new intent of the brand”.

A new year, a tagline, with new intent. News First surely has sure stood the test of challenging times. The times ahead will show how far they can go from the current position of strength