TRAVEL
Relief for pilgrims after Maha Kumbh airfares drop by 50%, average ticket price down to Rs 10,000
Airfares to the holy city of Prayagraj were around 98-210 percent higher in the first week of February, compared to the year-ago period
INDIA
Ranveer Allahbadia's followers down by 1.4 lakh, his remarks could cost him brand deals too amid row
Hashtags like #boycott_ranveerallahbadia and #unfollow_ranveer_allahbadia trended on social media, with users urging each other to unfollow the popular YouTuber.
TRENDS
AAPsolute Memefest: Delhi election results spark gold rush for meme creators
From posting scenes of the OTT series Mirzapur with clever captions to clips of popular films, meme creators struck it rich by churning out more than 100,000 posts on February 8
BUSINESS
Pushpa 2 scripts a turnaround for PVR Inox but Bollywood still a flop show
Re-runs contributed about 2 percent to PVR Inox's admissions in Q3. In 2025, re-releases such as Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani made up for some of the big movies such as Game Changer which did not perform well, said Ajay Bijli
ENTERTAINMENT
Amazon MX Player bets on shoppable videos to drive growth in India as competition intensifies
Amazon MX Player is a key part of the online retail giant’s strategy to boost its digital advertising revenue in the country.
TRENDS
Divine Deals: Influencers cash in on Maha Kumbh 2025, charge lakhs for a single post
Influencers with 100,000 following are charging Rs 15,000 for a post, while those with 1 million followers are charging Rs 1-1.5 lakh for posts on Maha Kumbh. This goes up to Rs 2.5-4 lakh due as there are not many influencers with high following creating content around the event.
SPORTS
Finance ministry needs to look at incentivising CSR funding into sports: RCB's Rajesh Menon
He said that the government should look at more public-private partnerships.
BUSINESS
Data shows fall in airfares to Prayagraj, but for pilgrims, it's still beyond reach
Data from Ixigo shows that while the average spot fares from Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai to Prayagraj have fallen to Rs 13,000-25,000 on February 3, 2025, from Rs 17,000-33,000, seen around January 28, 2025, ticket prices are still much higher, compared to the same period last year.
TRENDS
Sharan Hegde says finance creators, brand deals will shrink as Sebi curbs use of live stock prices
More clarity is needed on some aspects, he says. "Sebi has not given any clarity on platforms other than social media. If I am able to bring people, let's say on a Zoom platform or if I am able to talk to them on email, that's my own distribution. That's not social media. What is the restriction on that? Nobody knows," he said.
TRENDS
Sharan Hegde's 1% Club is the first to get SEBI’s Investment Advisor licence amid clamp down on finfluencers
The company's Personal CFO division is now compliant with SEBI’s regulatory framework. The company has become the first finfluencer-led company to secure the SEBI-RIA licence, Sharan Hegde said.
TRENDS
Financial influencers to see drop in brand deals and value as SEBI curbs use of live stock prices
SEBI has issued a circular clarifying provisions related to regulated entities and persons engaged in prohibited activities, aiming to end the business of illegal advisories masquerading as stock market education.
BUSINESS
Hotel industry has quite a few good reasons to cheer about in 2026
With high-profile events like the Aero Show and the World Audio-Visual & Entertainment Summit, both in Bengaluru, and the Maha Kumbh, the industry sees a promising year ahead. Also, premium room rates in India are still cheaper, compared to the rest of the world, say industry executives.
ENTERTAINMENT
Pickleball debut league: Brands in wait and watch mode, but star power piques interest
Top teams like Samantha Prabhu's Chennai Super Champs have clocked Rs 3-4 crore worth of sponsorship deals, with expectations of reaching Rs 5-6 crore by the second season of the league.
BUSINESS
More of GenZ flocking to Maha Kumbh; youth driving spiritual travel: Ixigo's Aloke Bajpai
Solo travellers are the dominant demographic on the rail side, making up over half of train bookings to Prayagraj, Ixigo's Chairman, MD and Group CEO Aloke Bajpai said. Also, as flight travel becomes expensive and rail bookings are not so easy, the company has seen a rising demand for bus travel, he said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Make movie tickets cheaper; bring policies to spur ad growth: Media & Entertainment Budget 2025 wish list
Last year marked one of the harshest years for advertising, particularly for traditional platforms, an expert noted.
TRENDS
India more than triples influencer count in four years, travel category sees strong rebound
Infotainment saw the highest growth at 448 percent while gaming recorded the fastest growth of 213 percent from 2020 to 2022, and maintained its momentum to reach 4,67,000 influencers by the end of 2024.
BUDGET
Sports sector urges budget boost for 2036 Olympics dream
The government needs to enhance grassroots infrastructure and promote public-private partnerships to make India an elite sporting nation, said experts.
ENTERTAINMENT
Pickleball's playbook: Star-studded leagues, celebrity investors and a media blitz
World Pickleball League (WPBL) is just the beginning of the many league format tournaments the sport is set to see in India where love for the game is seeing Karan Johar becoming the brand ambassador of Indian Open 2025 and Rishabh Pant co-owning a team in WPBL.
BUSINESS
Hope Budget 2025 will revive consumption cycle, spur ad growth, says Zee's Punit Goenka
Zee's ad revenue declined to Rs 940 crore. Domestic ad revenue came in at Rs 880 crore, down 10.8 percent YoY as softness in the overall ad environment continued
BUSINESS
Davos 2025: Digital inclusion creates opportunity for India to lead in AI, said Publicis Sapient's Nigel Vaz
On AI's impact, Vaz said that AI has moved out of being a technology that people are interested in and moved to being businesses recognizing AI is about enabling their physical workforce with a digital companion.
BUDGET
India versus Thailand: Hoteliers seek infrastructure status in Budget 2025 to beat competition
Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) expects infrastructure status for hotel and convention centre projects with costs starting from Rs 10 crore. The current criteria require hotel projects to exceed Rs 200 crore and convention centres Rs 300 crore.
TRAVEL
Divine rush: Maha Kumbh may spark a boom in spiritual tourism
The Maha Kumbh has also amplified interest in surrounding regions, creating a ripple effect in travel demand, say experts
BUSINESS
India's advertising industry vibrant, looking to expand, says S4 Capital's Martin Sorrell
Indians have woken up to the importance of digital communication, Sorrell said
TECHNOLOGY
Modi understands branding, is a great ad man, says S4 Capital's Martin Sorrell
Sorrell said that India is front and centre at the World Economic Forum
