Kerala TRP case | Ad holdcos face heat as India’s power order shifts | BMC announces stricter outdoor ad rules post-Ghatkopar tragedy
Storyboard18 brings you top five news updates from the world of advertising, marketing, and business of brands.
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Storyboard18 presents FAST FIVE ⬇
We bring you top five news updates from the world of advertising, marketing, and business of brands.
Kerala TRP case: BARC India orders independent forensic audit after Malayalam channel alleges ratings manipulation
India’s television ratings body, BARC India, has moved quickly to contain fallout after a Malayalam news broadcaster claimed that one of the agency’s employees was involved in an alleged ratings manipulation scheme.
In a statement issued on Friday, BARC India said it had taken note of a report by the Malayalam channel Twenty-Four, which aired allegations linking an internal employee to irregularities in audience measurement. The agency said it has engaged a “reputed independent agency” to conduct a comprehensive forensic audit into the matter, highlighting the urgency and seriousness with which it is approaching the claims.
Ad holdcos brace for new pressure as India’s power order resets: WPP, Omnicom+IPG, Publicis
The completion of Omnicom Group’s acquisition of Interpublic Group (IPG) on Nov. 26, 2025 is not just a headline-making transaction in New York, it immediately reorders competitive dynamics in India, where scale, exportable services and data/tech capabilities determine who wins the biggest media mandates and global briefs.
The new Omnicom (pro-forma revenues above $25 billion) now leads the list of global holding companies and brings together creative, media and data assets under one roof; that alone changes how global clients and Indian advertisers evaluate their agency rosters.
“Two drunks leaning on a lamppost”: Sir Martin Sorrell on the Omnicom–IPG merger and the turbulence ahead
As the dust settles on the Omnicom–IPG merger, the global advertising ecosystem is bracing for its aftershocks—ranging from leadership churn to widespread restructuring. Nobody is better positioned to interpret these shifts than Sir Martin Sorrell, Founder and Executive Chairman of S4 Capital. In a wide-ranging interview with Storyboard18, Sorrell delivers his frankest assessment yet of how the deal will redefine creativity, media, and talent across markets.
BMC unveils stricter outdoor advertising policy after Ghatkopar billboard tragedy
Eighteen months after a massive illegal billboard collapsed onto a petrol pump in Ghatkopar during a severe dust storm—killing 17 people and injuring more than 80—the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has introduced a sweeping new policy to regulate outdoor advertising across the city.
The latest framework, revealed on Thursday, significantly expands upon and revises the civic body's previous 2008 guidelines, imposing stringent norms governing hoarding dimensions, placement, illumination and display formats.
Supreme Court rejects Byju Raveendran’s challenge to NCLAT ruling on BCCI settlement
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an appeal filed by Byju Raveendran against a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) ruling that required the proposed settlement between Byju’s and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to be placed before the Committee of Creditors (CoC). The detailed judgment is awaited.
Raveendran had sought to overturn the NCLAT’s 17 April order, in which the Appellate Tribunal’s Chennai Bench refused to classify the settlement of BCCI’s claim as a pre-CoC arrangement. Instead, it directed that the settlement proposal be presented to the CoC of Think & Learn, the parent company of Byju’s, now undergoing insolvency proceedings, as reported by Bar anc Bench.
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