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Ultimate Table Tennis comes back after Covid pause, expects 50% rise in sponsorships
After a three-year hiatus, the franchise-based league is set to begin from July this year. The league also conducted its first player draft on June 2.

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Sony bets big on tennis, says viewership for non-cricket sports is growing
Tennis has a sizeable following in India, with close to 100 million viewers that watched the sport on TV last year, said

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Most films, series writers dissatisfied with pay; say theatrical business values stars over script
While content is king, the writers producing the content struggle to get their due credit, according to a recent survey.

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Ads by edtech led to update in education guidelines; keeping close watch on influencers: ASCI
Last year, the education category was the single-largest violative sector and accounted for nearly one-third of complaints about misleading advertisements at ASCI. This year the category became the second most violative category.

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Virat Kohli is the most followed Indian on Instagram, but will it up his endorsement game?
The numbers argue in his favour, but that may be a double-edge sword as it also leads to cluttering up the messaging.

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ASCI updates guidelines for education sector; focuses on students’ mental, physical well being
Education has been among the top violative sectors for the past few years when it comes to advertising, the ad regulator said. In its annual complaints report 2022–23, classical education ranked second among the top violative categories with 13.8 percent of total ads that did not adhere to ASCI’s guidelines.

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Wonderla to scale up investments by 4X, plans to add new rides, & a resort in Hyderabad
With footfalls growing 1.6 times post-Covid, the company has seen strong revenue growth and plans to add two new parks, in Chennai and Odisha. These should be operational in about a couple of years.

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Matters remotely connected with company have been addressed, Zee says on Sony merger
Punit Goenka, ZEE CEO, mentioned that the team is taking all necessary steps within the boundaries of the law to ensure there are no further hindrances in the merger approval.

BUSINESS
IPO bound gaming and blockchain company Yudiz Solutions gets NSE approval
The company is set to invest around Rs 80 million to set up a gaming studio and a multi-gaming platform. The game studio will aim to produce over 40 games in a year.

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With the biggest cricket stadium as home ground, Gujarat Titans sees high ticket revenues
With the home and away format making a comeback after three years and the franchise this year playing more than seven home matches at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad with a capacity of over 1,30,000, the team is recording high ticket sales.

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Zee5 lines up more content for 2023 with over 100 titles, up from 90 last year
While platforms like Zee5 are scaling up their content portfolio, experts note that the next 6-12 months are critical for the over the top platform (OTT) sector as platforms strive to balance monetization and profitability against content investment.

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TCS increase and Go First challenges impact travel industry, domestic demand strong: Thomas Cook
TCS will have a short-term impact and domestic travel will become the flavour for a month or two, said Thomas Cook India CEO. He added that the Go First issue is a challenging situation as there is no clarity on the airline resuming operations.

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Nazara's Nodwin Gaming raises $28 million for international expansion, IP development
Along with IP development and expansion in emerging markets, the company will use the funds to acquire more companies.

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Go First insolvency, higher airfares drive demand for bus tickets on popular routes
Delhi-Luucknow, Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Hyderabad-Bangalore, Chennai-Mumbai and Bangalore-Goa are among the routes that have seen a massive rise in demand.

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Tips Industries eyes overseas market, bets on regional segment; Bengali music to be in focus
The company is looking to release 700-800 songs in FY24 and has acquired music of films like PS I and II, and Freddy

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Occupancy, room rates have crossed pre-Covid levels for hotels, says Mahindra Holidays CEO
The company is also expanding inventory aggressively by creating more resorts, acquiring properties and also through the public-private partnership (PPP) model, the CEO added.

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MS Dhoni, Bhuvan Bam violate ad guidelines most, gaming least compliant category
In its annual report, ASCI also noted that the overall compliance is lower at 81 percent due to digital as the ads in this space emerged not just as a leading violator but also as the least compliant.

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PVR INOX to delay fresh handover of screens due to volatility in box office business
Due to high volatility in the Hindi film business, PVR Inox is waiting before taking new screens. On the other hand, the company is betting big on South India for its screen expansion with 40-50 percent concentration in south as regional films continue to perform better

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Disney+Hotstar paid user base to fall further by over 10% after IPL rights loss, HBO exit
The OTT platform may face a total paid subscriber loss of 25-30 percent and a negative impact of 50 percent on overall revenue in 2023, according to analysts.

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Mother's Day: The rise of the Indian mom influencer, to the second largest in the category in the world
In the last five years, there has been about a 50 percent spike in the number of mom-influencers in India. And the most popular mom-influencers have become a vital component of the marketing mix for brands, say marketers.

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The Kerala Story gives theatres a new lease of life after months of lean business
Theatre owners noted that the last blockbuster in cinemas was Pathaan. But despite—or perhaps because of—the controversy attached to it, The Kerala Story has come as a pleasant surprise for the cinema business.

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Go First insolvency spoils summer travel plans of Indians
Those who had booked tickets on Go First are scrambling to book on other airlines at higher prices.

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Hotels are at peak occupancy, growth will come via higher room rates: Royal Orchid's chairman
The Indian hotel industry bounced back since March last year after struggling during Covid years. The sector which returned to pre-pandemic levels in FY23 is expected to see double-digit growth in FY24.

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What’s Cooking: Actor Suniel Shetty launches food delivery app Waayu, looks to back more startups
The actor, who has backed startups in the health and sports space, is looking to further invest in new companies with a basic cash flow. He says that for him the founders and their ideas are most important.