iWorld
Disney+ Hotstar’s ad inventory for ‘Koffee with Karan Season 7’ sold out; on boards 8 sponsors
Mumbai: Disney+ Hotstar has sold 100 per cent of its ad inventory for the upcoming season seven of the country’s beloved chat show – Koffee with Karan. The latest season is scheduled to begin streaming on 7 July.
After seven successful seasons, the upcoming season of Koffee with Karan, sponsored by eight brands, will stream exclusively on Disney+ Hotstar. The show will be co-powered by Ajio Luxe and Bru while Amazon Alexa, BoAt and Only Natural Diamonds will be special partners. Just like its previous seasons, the show will be propelled by its driving partner, Audi and its lighting partner will be Jaquar Bath+ Light. India’s premium makeup platform, MyGlamm will serve as the presenting sponsor.
In a quest to offer a bigger, better and more transcendental show to its viewers, season seven, hosted by the iconic Bollywood personality, Karan Johar, will infuse new segments and deeper conversations. Broadening the horizon, while the show will retain its usual candid conversations, it will also feature a monologue by Karan himself on current events and trending conversations, belting the naughty and nice while introducing his guests.
The eight brands on-boarded for this season, echo the sentiment of Koffee with Karan driving synergies with their unique offerings and some of these will see interesting in-show integrations. Karan Johar will be turning on the Jaquar lights for the show’s signature Rapid Fire Round where a series of fast-paced questions bring out the hidden truth from the stars. Adding to the heat will also be the challenging buzzer round in the ‘MyGlamm Zone’ of sizzling slams and games. In addition to the fun and games will be Bru-ing conversations where stars share what floats their BoAt. Additionally, accompanying Karan Johar’s vocals request will be Amazon Alexa as he quizzes his guests to spill their beans on Diamonds and fashion.
“The popularity of reality shows has been growing, and as one of India’s longest-running reality talk shows, Koffee with Karan establishes new standards with each new season, creating extraordinary excitement for viewers and advertisers alike. The complete sell out of the show’s ad inventory is a testimony to this fact, and with Koffee with Karan going Disney+ Hotstar exclusive, it offers a great opportunity for our advertisers to connect with their audiences, said a Disney+ Hotstar spokesperson. He further added, “We are thrilled to welcome onboard our sponsors for the latest season of the legacy talk show and are excited to see the response of the audiences.”
Through a legacy show like Koffee With Karan, Disney+ Hotstar provides brands a unique opportunity to reach a highly engaged, urban, affluent and digitally savvy audience. The platform offers a variety of advertising and branded content solutions to help businesses across sectors engage with their audiences more effectively.
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.
