1st Match Records 28 million Reach Across India

ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEE), India’s largest content and entertainment powerhouse, today announced the viewership numbers of the inaugural edition of DP World International League T20 (DP World ILT20).

According to data released by the Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC), the first match of DP World ILT20 between Abu Dhabi Knight Riders and Dubai Capitals has generated a cumulative reach of 27.87 million on Television (India U+R, 2+). In the core males 15+ urban Hindi speaking markets it has recorded 0.47 TVR.

As the official global broadcast partner, ZEE’s 10 linear channels and streaming platform ZEE5 are bringing the LIVE action to viewers globally. DP World ILT20 league has been a success, with fans tuning in from all corners of the world to catch the thrilling action on the field. The tournament has been witnessing some nail-biting matches and spectacular performances from players, which are keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.

Rahul Johri, President – Business, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, said, “We are pleased with the viewer response for DP World ILT20 and promise even bigger action in the coming matches. We would like to express our gratitude to Emirates Cricket Board, 6 teams, players, the sponsors, distribution partners and above all, to the fans for their amazing support. At ZEE, we are committed to bring exciting cricketing action for fans everywhere and build our sports broadcast business in a robust manner.”

ILT20 has generated tremendous response from the sponsors across all categories, including PayTM, Hell Energy, Kurkure Playz, Kuhl Fans, Siggnature Elaichi and Gulf Oil for the 2023 edition with many more to be added in the coming week.

Earlier this month, ZEE unveiled its #HarBallBawaal campaign film, featuring global superstar Shah Rukh Khan in a bid to promote the league globally. Furthermore, the company had roped in rapper Badshah to produce the league’s anthem ‘Halla Halla’, which has become a viral sound tune for cricket across the Internet.

DP World ILT20 is being broadcasted LIVE on the ZEE’s 10 linear channels and streamed on ZEE5 since January 13th 2023. The event will be broadcast on Zee Cinema (SD & HD), Zee Anmol Cinema, Zee Therai, Zee Bangla Cinema, Zee Zest (SD & HD), & Pictures HD, &Flix (SD & HD) and ZEE5 in India and globally.

First Desktop Update in a Decade Puts Usability at the Forefront

The interface update, built in collaboration with Wikipedia volunteers worldwide, will make the site more welcoming, easier to use for everyone

The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, announced today the launch of Wikipedia’s first major desktop interface update in over ten years. The updated interface, which comes on the heels of English Wikipedia’s 22nd birthday (January 15), prioritizes usability and modernizes the Wikipedia experience to make it easier for everyone to access, explore, and share knowledge. The update is rolling out today on English Wikipedia and is already live on 94% of the 318 active language versions of Wikipedia for all desktop users.

In 2022, a global digital trends report revealed that the number of people who are not connected to the internet dropped below 3 billion for the first time. Wikipedia’s new desktop interface was designed to meet the needs of this next generation of internet users, making it easier for everyone, regardless of their familiarity with the internet, to find knowledge that is trustworthy and reliable. The desktop update, created in close consultation with Wikipedia readers and volunteer editors, is part of a steady series of improvements to the Wikipedia reading and editing experiences over the past several years across mobile and desktop devices.

“The Wikipedia desktop update is one of the major improvements the Wikimedia Foundation is making to help people easily access the world’s knowledge, in support of our mission to make sure every person on the planet has free and equitable access to knowledge, regardless of where they live or where they are from,” said Selena Deckelmann, Chief Product and Technology Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation. “The changes make it easier for people to find and learn from the work of our incredible volunteers. These features were created with feedback from readers and volunteers from all over the world, aiming to meet the needs of our increasingly diverse audience, while keeping the simple and straightforward feel that millions of people have come to trust over the last 22 years."

The desktop update introduces a variety of new features, including:

An improved search experience that now leverages images and descriptions that makes it easier to find articles on Wikipedia, leading to a 30 percent increase in user searches based on testing.

More prominently-placed language-switching tools that allow multilingual readers and editors to more quickly find their preferred language and switch between over 300 languages
An updated sticky header with commonly used links such as Search, Page name, and Sections that move with logged-in users as they scroll. This allows users to focus on reading and editing, and reduces scrolling fatigue with user tests showing a decreased scroll rate of more than 15 percent
A table of contents that provides context on the article and the ability to navigate throughout the reading experience

The updated Wikipedia interface does not remove any previous functionality. It instead introduces new tools to improve the existing website experience through enhancements based on consultation with Wikipedia volunteer editors, data analysis, and user testing.

More than 30 different volunteer groups from all over the world, ranging from India and Indonesia, to Ghana and Argentina, were engaged throughout conceptualization, product development, testing, and rollout. The improvements were further shaped by global research insights and user feedback. This collaborative model is unique to Wikimedia projects, which, unlike other online technology platforms, prioritizes building with users instead of just for them.

The Wikimedia Foundation remains committed to the core idea of knowledge equity. Through this central philosophy, the Foundation supports freely available knowledge for communities that have traditionally been excluded from structures of power and privilege, and works to break down the social, political, and technical barriers preventing people from accessing and contributing to free knowledge.

The updated desktop interface is a realization of our commitment to knowledge equity, and is part of ongoing work to better empower users and improve the experience of reading and contributing knowledge across the Wikimedia ecosystem. The Wikimedia Foundation is collecting feedback from new and existing Wikipedia users to continue developing a desktop experience that meets the needs of the growing global Wikimedia community.

On January 7th, 2023, Gautam Adani, the third richest person, was interviewed by iconic Rajat Sharma on the highly-rated show Aap Ki Adalat. The episode created history by achieving remarkable viewership numbers on BARC and surpassing the competition.

According to BARC, the show garnered a 33.6% market share among the top 5 Hindi news channels in the 2200-2300 hour time slot. The channel has grown threefold in this time slot in unrolled data. The program was highly rated and watched by viewers of all age groups, achieving a 40.6% market share among NCCS A, as reported by BARC.

On Airtel RDP, India TV secured the top position with a staggering 77.2% market share, leaving the competition far behind. Aaj Tak secured 7.2%, followed by ABP News at 5.6%, Republic Bharat at 5%, and News18 India at 5%.

The One Club is a non-profit organization whose mission is to celebrate and support the global creative community: Yash Egami, COO -The One Club for Creativity

Here’s the full Q & A:

1. To start things off, what are the ADC Awards and how did they begin?

The ADC Awards was first produced by the Art Directors Club, which was founded here in New York in 1920. The awards show was revolutionary at the time because it was one of the first of its kind to bring artists and business leaders together and celebrate the intersection of art and commerce. Now in its 102nd year, the ADC Awards is the oldest continuously running industry awards show in the world.

Today the awards are under the umbrella of The One Club for Creativity, and it continues to recognize artistry and craftsmanship in categories including advertising, digital media, graphic and publication design, packaging and product design, artificial intelligence, motion, gaming, architecture, photography, illustration and fashion design. Pricing is tiered so that it’s affordable for freelancers and small studios to enter, and winners become a part of the One Club Global Rankings.

2. The One Club does not just reward creativity but also nurtures and encourages creative growth. Tell us more about the process?

The One Club is a non-profit organization whose mission is to celebrate and support the global creative community. In addition to our awards, we host many programs and initiatives through our pillars, which include education, professional development, inclusion and diversity and gender equality.

Our goal is to support creatives through every step of their development and career. We have a program for high school students here in the United States called the Saturday Career Workshops where they get to learn about how to get a job in the creative industry and then they participate in a hands-on activity such as logo design or illustration. We have mentoring workshops for college-level students, portfolio reviews and our Young Ones Competition where they have the chance to win an ADC Cube, One Show Pencil, TDC Award or Portfolio Award and jump-start their careers. And we produce Portfolio Night, a global event where cities host portfolio reviews all on the same night that attracts thousands of up and coming creatives.

We even started a free, online portfolio school for Black creatives during COVID lockdowns called One School and a food styling course for diverse students called One Productions-Food Styling. These programs provide opportunities for creatives from all backgrounds to gain the knowledge and tools to get a job in the advertising industry.

We just recently announced the winners of our Next Creative Leaders competition, which recognizes the top rising female creatives from around the world. And in February we will be hosting our Creative Leaders Retreat in New Orleans for mid- to senior-level creatives who are being elevated to leadership positions in their companies and need advice and training on how to navigate that transition.

For emerging creatives we have our ADC Young Guns competition, one of the top creative awards for people under 30. Winning at Young Guns opens doors and helped launch the careers of many well-known creatives working today like designers Jessica Walsh and Gemma O’Brien, blockbuster filmmakers Joseph Kosinski and The Daniels and top advertising creatives Menno Kluin and Rei Inamoto.

On the TDC side we have our Ascenders competition, which awards the top designers in the type world 35 years old and under. This is in addition to the many other seminars, workshops and programs that we offer throughout the year, so we encourage every creative to come and participate!

3.Jury process and selection is an important part to maintain creative excellence. What are the specific things you look for when selecting the jury?

The quality of the jury is what gives award shows credibility. That’s why for all of our award shows, we invite only the best creative leaders from all over the globe to look at the work. Jurors are nominated by previous years’ juries and are approved by our board of directors. And we look for creatives who other creatives in our industry look up to and respect and have a solid track record.

We are proud of our judging process, which we feel is one of the purest and most fair systems in the industry. We developed a proprietary judging platform where pieces are judged by their average score that the jury gives them. And during our final discussions, we have guidelines about how those conversations should take place, which includes a no lobbying or pressuring rule that unfortunately happens in other award shows.

4.The role and contribution of creative freelancers in the economy is poorly understood. What are some of the things that The One Club is doing to help this community?

Freelancers are an important part of The One Club and all of our shows. We have events throughout the year aimed at the freelancer community to help support them and annual competitions like our Young Guns awards are primarily comprised of independent creatives.

In the ADC Awards we have tiered pricing so that freelancers can enter at a discounted rate. We also have a partnership with Working Not Working, one of the biggest freelance talent platforms, where we award the Freelancer of the Year and give their members an additional discount in the ADC Awards. And we’ve been able to keep the TDC Competition affordable because a significant number of creatives in the type community are independents or work at small agencies.

We want to make sure we help level the playing field so that freelancers are given the same opportunity to be recognized as the bigger agencies.

5.Can you tell us more about your Creative Leaders’ Retreat. How has been the response from the Creative Industry?

For the past nine years the Creative Leaders Retreat has been a big success because it’s such a unique program. As you know most creatives are trained in how to make work i.e. art direction, copywriting, design, etc. But as they move up in the agency or corporate world, they transition into leadership roles where they are overseeing the teams that create the work rather than making the work themselves. The problem is, not everyone is trained in how to do this and most of the time they learn through trial and error.

The Creative Leaders Retreat was launched to fill this gap and provide tangible, actionable advice to people stepping into leadership roles or leaders who are looking to become better at what they do. So we have sessions around how to inspire your teams, how to retain talent and how to build purpose into your company’s mission. The format is also very collaborative so you really get a sense that we’re all in this together. It’s a lot of fun and I get personally involved in putting the program together every year.

6.Tell us how things have changed with the lockdown and pandemic?

Basically, everything has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic. We used to do mostly in-person events before but now we do a lot more hybrid and online initiatives. The upside of all of this is that we’ve managed to broaden our audience because location is no longer an issue. We have attendees from South America, Australia, Asia, Europe and just about everywhere coming to our online events and it’s exciting to see that we’re having a bigger impact beyond just the United States.

Just like everyone else, COVID made us accelerate the transition to online and created many opportunities for us. We launched ONE School in 2020, a free online portfolio program for Black creatives that’s become one of the biggest social change programs in the history of advertising. We also created One Production – Food Styling, which was a real-time, online instructional course aimed at diverse creatives on how to become a food stylist. And we developed our own online portfolio review system that has enabled us to host virtual reviews for our education programs as well as or diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Here in the U.S. and especially in New York it seems like the hybrid model of working is here to stay, so we are constantly looking at ways to improve our offerings so that we stay connected to the creative community no matter where they are.

7.On a personal note, what have been the highlights of your career so far? Your key learnings?

I have been with The One Club for 18 years now and it’s been incredible to see how much we’ve grown. When I started there were maybe 12 people and now we’ve grown to a staff of nearly 40. We were also primarily focused on just The One Show back then but we have evolved to become more than just an awards show, which speaks to our mission as a not-for-profit organization.

There are countless people in this industry today that tell us we were responsible for helping them get a foot in the door and launch their careers. And that’s what motivates me because I feel like we’re making a difference. We don’t just talk about the issues, we do something about them and provide real opportunities for people, which is the main reason why I’ve been with the organization for so long.

Being a creative person myself, I love being around other creatives and feeling constantly inspired. The One Club has given me the opportunity to meet some of my creative heroes from Lee Clow to Jeff Goodby to photographer Mark Seliger and the recently departed George Lois and Dan Wieden. These are some of the people that I look at and say wow, they really made a difference in the world.

Ushering the New Year, Movies NOW, Home to Blockbusters has launched Season 10 of its most-awaited mega property, 100 Mania.

Offering an immersive viewer engagement, 100 Mania Season 10 leads with the premise #DoubleDelight, where viewers can win tempting daily prizes by watching their favourite Hollywood movies every night at 8.45 PM on Movies NOW.

Growing leaps and bounds through the course of 9 seasons, 100 Mania has witnessed unparalleled organic consumer engagement, registering active viewer participation with 2.6 Million calls, and has gratified 900 winners across the country to date. Creating a strong footprint on digital with its interactive content, the previous season of 100 Mania garnered a reach of 2.9 Million and 3.5 Million impressions across the Network’s social media platforms.

With a curated selection of 100 Hollywood movies for 100 days, 100 Mania offers its viewers an opportunity to win amazing prizes like smart watches, smartphones, bikes, tablets, cycles, backpacks and much more, by answering simple questions. To enter the contest viewers will have Whatsapp the code displayed every night during the 8:45 movie at the number ‘9160001049’ flashing on their TV screen. Following this, viewers will receive the question of the day and should answer the questions correctly to win exciting gifts.

Promising movie aficionados a mesmerizing movie viewing experience, 100 Mania will feature some of the biggest Hollywood action blockbusters including The Scorpion King, Alien Vs Predator, Battleship, Mission Impossible, Warcraft, The Wrath of Men, The Last Witch Hunter, The Virtuoso, How to Train Your Dragon among others.

Making the property more interactive and collaborative this season, Movies NOW is leading an integrated campaign synchronizing Network channels and its social media platforms.

Tune in to Movies Now everyday 8:45 pm to enjoy your favourite action movies and win amazing prizes.