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Amazon.com expands content licensing deal with NBCUniversal
MUMBAI: Online retail major Amazon.com has announced an expanded content licensing agreement with NBCUniversal Cable and New Media Distribution that will bring programmes to Prime Instant Video.
Prime Instant Video offers more than 40,000 movies and TV episodes for Prime members to stream on Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Roku, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Wii U, among other connected TVs and devices – all at no additional cost.
Prime members will have exclusive unlimited subscription streaming access to prior seasons of the following NBCUniversal shows:
NBC‘s dark fantasy drama ‘Grimm‘, based on the collection of Grimm Fairy Tales
USA Network‘s legal drama ‘Suits‘ and serialised spy thriller ‘Covert Affairs‘
NBC‘s new psychological thriller ‘Hannibal‘, based on the novels by Thomas Harris and produced by Gaumont International Television, available later this year
Syfy‘s new futuristic sci-fi and drama series ‘Defiance‘ will be available early next year
In addition, the announcement will add several shows to Prime Instant Video including ‘Smash‘, as well as Syfy drama series ‘Alphas‘, ‘Eureka‘ and ‘Warehouse 13‘. Also available are children‘s programmes including ‘Curious George‘ and ‘Land Before Time‘, which will both be available in Kindle FreeTime Unlimited, the content service that brings together books, games, apps, movies and TV shows.
Amazon director of digital video content acquisition Brad Beale said, “We listen carefully to our customers to find out which TV shows and movies they find the most entertaining. Our expanded agreement with NBCUniversal gives Prime members access to even more exclusive content that they can stream instantly, at no additional cost. Compelling shows like ‘Covert Affairs‘, ‘Defiance‘, ‘Grimm‘, ‘Hannibal‘ and ‘Suits‘ are big wins for our customers and we look forward to adding more titles soon.”
NBCUniversal Cable and New Media Distribution president Frances Manfredi said, “We‘re excited to expand our relationship with Amazon by adding great NBCUniversal content to Prime Instant Video. With Amazon, we‘re giving our established viewers a chance to catch-up on what they missed while simultaneously reaching and engaging new audiences who may not have seen these great series on their premiering networks.”
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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.
