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CBeebies programming block to launch on BesTV New Media in China
MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC‘s commercial arm BBC Worldwide has announced a deal with Chinese new media company BesTV to launch a CBeebies branded block on their multi screen platform.
The deal, announced at the opening day of the Shanghai TV Festival, is the first collaboration between a UK kids content provider and BesTV New Media.
Commencing this year, the deal will see over 20 million of BesTV‘s new media subscribers, who have access to CBeebies‘ preschool programmes like ‘Teletubbies‘, ‘Sarah And Duck‘, ‘Baby Jake‘ and ‘Andy‘s Wild Adventures‘ as a VOD service. Young learners and parents will be able to enjoy CBeebies programmes via BesTV‘s multi-screen service – through IPTV, Connect TV, OTT, tablets, and mobile.
This will be the first launch of CBeebies as a brand in China. BBC Worldwide VP and GM Greater China Pierre Cheung said, “We have a long term relationship with BesTV, who have been acquiring our BBC documentaries and drama since 2008. We are extremely excited to work with them again to launch the CBeebies brand, and look forward to working with them to promote our award-winning preschool brand in China.”
BesTV New Media VP Zhangyue said, “Family subscribers are our target users, and the deal with BBC Worldwide to provide CBeebies branded programmes on BesTV is important to us. It gives our viewers and subscribers opportunities where families can come together in front of the TV to spend quality time together.”
“CBeebies provides a range of pre-school programming designed to encourage learning through play in a consistently safe environment – attributes that we at BesTV agree and believe in as well. With this deal, we have upped the ante on our international preschool offering,” he adds.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
