iWorld
One Digital Entertainment crosses the 1200+ channel mark
MUMBAI One Digital Entertainment, known for managing digital video content and channels for some of the biggest creators in the country like Sanjeev Kapoor, Honey Singh, Badshah, Speed Records, Raftaar, Rannvijay, Anubhav Sinha, Tiger Shroff, Fever FM amongst others, recently crossed the 1200+ YouTube channels mark, further consolidating its position as the largest multi-channel network in the country. The company that started around three years ago today boasts of an undisputed 20 billion minutes of content that has been consumed on its network so far,
One Digital’s expansive presence ranges from music, entertainment, lifestyle, food, comedy and more. The company is also credited with identifying new talent and creating Internet sensations like Prajakta Koli, who has crossed 37,000 subscribers in less than 10 months on her channel Mostly Sane. The largest content network for YouTube in India and also distributes content across multiple other content publishers and partners. 2016 will also see One Digital foray more actively into original web programming with a line-up of 12 different formats to be launched.
Commenting on this success, One Digital Entertainment COO and CO founder Gurpreet Singh said, “Driving reach & viewership for online video has been a challenge for a lot of entities in this space but One Digital Entertainment has developed its secret sauce to ensure we are able to deliver each creator their due. We are also humbled by the support and the talent of our creators and channels and only look to make this business more meaningful for them”.
iWorld
Meta signs multiyear AI deal with News Corp
Agreement worth up to $50 million annually covers WSJ, New York Post and UK titles.
MUMBAI: Meta just bought itself a front-row seat to the newsroom because when AI needs facts, even Zuckerberg is willing to pay the subscription fee. Meta Platforms has signed a multiyear artificial intelligence content licensing agreement with News Corp that could be worth up to $50 million (£39 million) a year, The Wall Street Journal reported on 25 February 2026. The deal, expected to run for at least three years, grants Meta access to News Corp’s US and UK content including The Wall Street Journal and New York Post for training AI models and powering real-time information retrieval in its products.
Australian mastheads such as the Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun are not included. News Corp CEO Robert Thomson revealed the arrangement during a Morgan Stanley technology conference in San Francisco, describing news organisations as a vital “input company” in the AI ecosystem. “We’re essentially an input company,” he said. “The great threat in the age of AI is going to be to what you might call output companies.”
Thomson emphasised the value of reliable journalism as foundational infrastructure for AI systems, noting regular conversations with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg via Whatsapp and ongoing talks with OpenAI’s Sam Altman. He added that News Corp is in “advanced stage” negotiations for additional deals, promising further announcements soon.
The agreement follows News Corp’s 2024 five-year partnership with OpenAI (reportedly worth more than $250 million) and reflects Meta’s broader push to secure content licences. The company has already confirmed deals with People Inc, USA Today, CNN and Fox News, though financial terms remain undisclosed.
Publishers remain divided, some pursue partnerships for revenue, while others litigate. News Corp subsidiaries have sued Perplexity over copyright infringement, The New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft, yet the same NYT struck a separate AI licensing deal with Amazon reportedly worth $20–25 million annually.
Thomson summed up the dual strategy as “woo or sue” seeking commercial agreements where possible, legal action when content is used without permission.
In an AI race where data is oxygen, Meta isn’t just training models, it’s buying the raw material for tomorrow’s answers, one headline at a time.
