iWorld
JioCinema’s Toontastic Winter Carnival: 24 new shows for kids & family
Mumbai: Following its recent foray into kids’ entertainment, JioCinema is further set to elevate the entertainment quotient for its young viewers and their families with its latest campaign ‘Toontastic Winter Carnival’ to welcome 2024. Promising to make this holiday season the biggest-ever carnival and unforgettable for everyone, the festival brings a blockbuster lineup of 24 new shows, providing more than 300 hours of engaging content.
As a part of this, JioCinema will drop new titles every day, presenting a diverse mix of homegrown and international releases from the kids’ network content of Viacom18 Nickelodeon, as well as globally renowned studios such as Warner Bros. and Paramount. Encompassing various genres like action, comedy, and adventure for kids, teens, and parents alike, the extravaganza includes many first-time debuts on JioCinema and will feature popular homegrown IPs – Abhimanyu Ki Alien Family and The Twisted Timeline of Sammy & Raj, along with shows – Shimmer And Shine, Paw Patrol, Avatar : The Last Airbender, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kung Fu Panda: Legends Of Awesomeness, The Penguins Of Madagascar, Top Wing, Dora The Explorer, The Legend Of Korra. That’s not all! The carnival will also premiere global hits like Tom & Jerry, Samurai Jack, Karadi Tales, Geronimo Stilton, Teen Titans Go, Ben 10, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Zig & Sharko, Steven Universe, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Wacky Races, Chowder and Megas XLR.
Elevating the interactive experience for digital natives, JioCinema is pulling out all the stops with a watch-and-win experience ‘Khelo, Dekho, aur Jeeto’ contest, adding an engaging touch to the campaign. Ushering in 2024, JioCinema continues to set the benchmark for unparalleled viewing experience with one of its biggest rollouts of new shows. With the recently added ‘Kids and Family Hub’ offering and the launch of ‘Toontastic Winter Carnival’, the platform aims to create a delightful experience for young audiences and their families.
Create unforgettable family moments this holiday season with JioCinema! Dive into a world of enchanting shows and movies, making every moment a magical adventure for kids and families alike!
iWorld
Snapchat parent Snap cuts 16 per cent of workforce in AI-driven restructuring
The Snapchat parent is axing around 1,000 jobs and closing 300 open roles to save $500m, as artificial intelligence makes smaller teams the new normal
CALIFORNIA: Snap is snapping. The Snapchat parent has confirmed plans to cut around 1,000 employees, roughly 16 per cent of its full-time workforce, as it bets that artificial intelligence can do what headcount once required. Shares jumped more than 10 per cent in premarket trading on the news, a brisk vote of confidence from a market that has watched the stock shed about 31 per cent this year.
The restructuring, which also closes more than 300 open roles, follows pressure from activist investor Irenic Capital Management, which holds an economic interest of about 2.5 per cent in the company and has been loudly pushing Snap to tighten its portfolio and lift performance. The firm got what it asked for, and then some.
Chief executive Evan Spiegel told employees the cuts would reduce annualised expenses by more than $500m by the second half of the year. The company expects to incur charges of between $95m and $130m related to the layoffs, mostly severance, with the bulk landing in the second quarter. Staff in Snap’s North America team were asked to work from home on the day of the announcement.
The financial backdrop is not without bright spots. Snap expects first-quarter revenue to rise around 12 per cent to approximately $1.53 billion, broadly in line with analyst estimates. Adjusted core profit for the January to March quarter is forecast at about $233m, comfortably ahead of Wall Street’s expectation of $186.8m.
The harder question surrounds Specs, Snap’s augmented reality smart glasses subsidiary, which Irenic has urged the company to spin off or shut down entirely. The unit has absorbed more than $3.5 billion in investment and burns through approximately $500m in cash annually. Snap is pressing ahead regardless, with a consumer product expected later this year, even as Meta leads the market in the segment.
Spiegel is betting that leaner teams, smarter machines and a consumer AR play can restore Snap’s credibility with investors who have run out of patience. The redundancy notices have gone out. The harder restructuring, the one that requires a hit product rather than a headcount reduction, is still very much pending.
