TMS Ep616: Zee-Sony merger, cookieless market, interim Budget, stress test

Till a few days ago, they were busy in hectic parleys to form a formidable 10 billion- dollar media empire in India. And now, broadcaster Zee and Sony are fighting a pitched battle in courts. While the court proceedings will follow its own course, how will the collapse of this proposed merger affect Zee - whose revenue and profit growth have been muted over the past two years. Has Zee run out of options? 

Reliance-Disney merger, on the other hand, is on track. Both the companies have recently appointed law firms and started antitrust due diligence of their planned merger. Moving on, the world’s most popular browser Google Chrome will soon be phasing out a very essential tool that brands swear by for tracking users. We’re talking about third-party cookies. Now, while this is good news for user privacy, businesses may not be equally happy. They are apprehensive. So are businesses in India prepared for a cookieless market? 

But for now, businesses are more keen on seeing what is in the store for them in the upcoming interim budget. It will be tabled on February 1. The current budgeting exercise is confronted by economic headwinds such as the deceleration in the global economy, and strains on the rural economy. Against this backdrop, find out what markets are expecting from the interim budget.

Markets regulator, Sebi, meanwhile, is busy strengthening guardrails. It is planning to comprehensively stress-test equity mutual fund schemes and come out with measures to handle potentially dangerous situations. But what is stress testing? Listen to this episode of the podcast for answers.