Applications
How broadcasters and studios can harness ERP, innovative tech to run content biz
MUMBAI: India’s Prime Focus, which was in news in connection with the leak of an upcoming episode of ‘Game of Thrones’ to be broadcast by its partner Star India’s Hotstar, recently signed technology deals with prominent traditional and digital broadcasters. Now, its technology arm Prime Focus Technologies (PFT) will be unveiling a host of industry-first upgrades to its flagship product, CLEAR Media ERP Suite, at IBC 2017.
CLEAR now offers a brand new functionality for end-to-end Work Order Management, pre-integrated with its Media Asset Management (MAM), Workflow Engine and Video Tools.
This further elevates CLEAR’s promise of enterprise digitization to the next level, by enabling users to manage all of the following on ONE system:
* Assets, with associated metadata and essence.
* Resources, including internal and freelance resources, as well as 3rd party vendors.
* Tasks, including generation, timeline estimation, scheduling, assignment and execution (using tools within or outside CLEAR)
* Orchestration of content workflows across the content supply chain.
While users have been able to track business processes in previous versions of CLEAR, the new Work Order Management now allows the tracking of every incoming work request including all of its associated processes, tasks and deliverables, through completion. Additionally, its Resource and Task Assignment modules enable assignment of manual tasks to best-fit resources based on skill, availability and cost. Users can assign tasks across their pool of internal, vendor and freelance resources, thus ensuring optimal resource utilization in alignment with business objectives.
With BPM driven tasks, due date based Work Order monitoring dashboards, in-depth data analytics and reporting, Work Order Management is a vital ingredient that helps Media and Entertainment enterprises improve quality and maintain on-time delivery alongside increases in scale. It lays the foundation for streamlining content operations and helps M and E players enhance efficiencies across core processes like acquisition, review and approval, cataloguing, QC, mastering, distribution, promos and localisation.
“To lead in the industry, broadcasters and studios have to move beyond managing just content and focus on successfully running the business of content by harnessing the power of enterprise software and innovative technology,” said Prime Focus Technologies founder and CEO Ramki Sankaranarayanan.
“For the first time ever, media and entertainment organisations can have both assets and work related details for the entire supply chain on one system. This will usher in extreme transparency across the content lifecycle, and reduce manual effort drastically to help M and E enterprises lower their Total Cost of Operations,” he added.
PFT will also be showcasing the latest additions to its Hybrid Cloud-enabled CLEAR Media ERP Suite at IBC 2017. These include:
DAX® Production Cloud: ONE Software for Dailies and Post Workflows that enables all stakeholders within the production supply chain to collaborate, service and distribute media, all on the same software
Promo Operations: A never-before functionality that provides end-to-end business process orchestration for promo creation including versioning automation.
Mastering Automation: An efficient and cost-effective way to create masters for domestic and international syndication
Interoperable Master Format (IMF):
* World’s first IMF Media Player for playback over streaming proxy
Future-ready solution for IMF content exchange, with support for SMPTE’s upcoming Applications (beyond 2 and 2e).
* Technology to transform IMF Packages into deliverables for DPP and iTunes.
When both, assets and work-related details, for the entire supply chain would be on one system, life would certainly be much easier for the media and entertainment organisations.
Also Read:
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DD Kashir: Prime Focus, Beehive & Grasshopper shortlisted for packaging
Prime Focus reports flat results for first quarter
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
