iWorld
ZEE5 records over 50% increase in WoW viewership
KOLKATA: During the lockdown, ZEE5, as India’s Entertainment Super-App has continued to entertain and engage diverse audiences by serving bespoke content across languages and a spectrum of devices. The platform’s popularity surged further as the week-on-week viewership soared by 52 per cent for all the shows, reinforcing itself as India’s most preferred destination for digital video entertainment.
With the extended lockdown, citizens have been confined to their homes looking for a source of entertainment. And amidst this lockdown, leading the digital video entertainment space, ZEE5 has been catering to their diverse audiences through various initiatives and shows across genres and languages. This exceptional surge in viewership has been recorded for shows such as Pavitra Rishta, Trinayani, Rahichi Rahibi Tori Pain, Neeyum Njanum, Ninne Palladhata, Agga Bai Sasubai, Ratris Khel Chale 2 and numerous other shows that recorded a significant surge in views.
Amongst all, Telugu content recorded the maximum rise in viewership with 157 per cent WoW, followed by Hindi with 106 per cent. Other languages like Bengali, Malayalam and Oriya also witnessed a significant surge.
With Unlock 2.0, production studios are coming back to a new way of shooting; thus, ensuring consumers get their daily dose of entertainment. ZEE5 is gearing up to continue serving fans with their favourite shows by adding new episodes from 13 July 2020. And as more people turn to OTT platforms in the current scenario, due to increasing preference for digital platforms, the platform is ready to address this massive traffic for these shows.
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.
