iWorld
Reliance to launch Jio On Demand with over 450 TV channels
MUMBAI: The employee launch of Reliance Jio has raised the bar of expectation and filled the atmosphere with promise. And there are no better companies in India than Reliance when it comes to meeting expectations. The disruptive march that started since the announcement of Reliance Jio is now getting more and more exciting. India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani and his company is now set to disrupt the content consumption ecosystem with the launch of an on-demand content consumption service, which will also have live TV.
Christened Jio On Demand, the service will be unveiled by April 2016.
“The service will be launched with over 450 channels on board. We are in constant talks with broadcasters in order to make sure that Jio On Demand has a versatile catalog,” a company official told Indiantelevision.com on condition of anonymity.
Jio On Demand is already available for Reliance employees. A user of the service said, “I connect it with my TV, I see content on my smart-phone and being a Reliance 4G subscriber, I have yet to face a bandwidth issue. The app is very user friendly and the interface is least complicated. I can see the millennials going crazy about this.”
The app is available for both iOS and Android platforms, but only for Reliance employees and privileged consumers as of now. The pricing of the service is yet to be determined.
A associate working closely on the Jio On Demand service added, “I think the app will only be available for Reliance Infocom 4G subscribers and will be bundled with a data pack. So the consumer will have access to both data and the app. I am very sure that the pricing will be reasonable and may set a new benchmark for data pricing in India.”
Reliance Jio Infocomm’s social networking service Jio Chat was last year and is accessible to all for free. Reliance has already teamed up with the State Bank of India (SBI) to launch the digital wallet service called Jio Money. The service is expected to launch in the next few months, and will help consumers to make cashless payments. Amongst other services are also Switch-and-Walk, Jio Drive and music streaming service Jio Beats.
“All the apps will have special and unique offerings, they are already rolled out for Reliance employees and are tested thoroughly so that once they come out commercially, they are a thrill for the users,” concludes the senior official.
iWorld
Netflix cuts jobs in product division amid restructuring
Layoffs hit creative studio unit as leadership and strategy shifts unfold.
MUMBAI: The streaming wars may be fought on screen, but the latest plot twist is unfolding behind the scenes. Netflix has reportedly begun laying off several dozen employees from its product division as part of an internal reorganisation, according to a report by Variety. The cuts are believed to have primarily affected the company’s creative studio unit, which works on marketing assets such as in app trailers, promotional visuals and live experience content for the streaming platform.
The company has not disclosed the exact number of employees impacted.
According to the report, the layoffs were not tied to employee performance. Instead, the restructuring eliminated certain roles while other employees were reassigned to different teams within the organisation.
The roles affected are understood to include designers, producers and creative specialists responsible for marketing and brand experience initiatives.
The job cuts come as Netflix adjusts its leadership structure and reshapes its product and creative teams. Last month, Elizabeth Stone was promoted from chief technology officer to chief product and technology officer, giving her oversight of product, engineering and data operations across the company.
Earlier, in December 2025, Netflix also appointed Martin Rose as head of creative for global brand and partnerships, a move seen as part of a broader restructuring of the company’s brand and product functions.
Despite the layoffs, Netflix remains one of the largest employers in the streaming sector. The company is estimated to employ around 16,000 people globally, with roughly 70 percent of its workforce based in the United States and Canada. In 2023, the company reported approximately 13,000 employees, indicating that its headcount had grown significantly before the latest restructuring.
The workforce changes arrive at a time when Netflix is navigating a shifting financial and strategic landscape in the global entertainment industry.
The streaming giant recently secured $2.8 billion in additional cash after receiving a breakup fee from Paramount Skydance following its withdrawal from a deal involving Warner Bros. Discovery.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Netflix co chief executive Ted Sarandos explained that the company had evaluated multiple scenarios during the negotiations but chose not to match the competing offer once it learned that a higher bid had been submitted.
Netflix had capped its offer at $27.75 per share and ultimately stepped back rather than pursue Paramount’s $111 billion acquisition deal, which included a personal guarantee.
Sarandos also cautioned that the financing structure behind the Paramount Skydance transaction could have ripple effects across the entertainment industry.
According to him, the debt heavy deal could trigger significant cost cutting, with David Ellison, chief executive of Paramount Skydance, expected to eliminate about $16 billion in costs and potentially cut thousands of jobs as part of the integration process.
For Netflix, the current restructuring appears to be part of a broader attempt to streamline operations while continuing to invest in product, technology and global content even as the streaming industry enters a new phase of consolidation and financial discipline.
