iWorld
SonyLIV Goes Regional with ‘Full Tight’- Launches its second Marathi Web-Series
MUMBAI: With 180.3 million* active online video viewers and almost 4 million* registered subscribers, the OTT companies today are making huge investments in language content to spur growth from regional markets. According to a KPMG and Google report in 2017, Indian language users adapt to digital entertainment at a much quicker pace and the rate is deemed to rise in future.
Catering to this discerning viewer, SonyLIV aces up its regional content offering with the launch of Marathi web-series ‘Full Tight’ today. A 7-episode series, Full Tight is a heartfelt yet realistic take on the youth directed by Shriprasad Pawar and produced by Vijay Barse. The web-series stars popular faces like Yatin Karyekar and Sneha Raikar along with Akshay Kelkar, Sayli Salunkhe, Vanashree Joshi and Sumukhi Pendse.
Full Tight touches upon the concepts of friendship, romance and parenthood with a comical undertone. The story revolves around Adi (Akshay Kelkar) and his weird encounters with his parents (Yatin Karyekar and Sneha Raikar) in what looks like a perfect family setting. All goes well until one evening the father and the son bond over alcohol and all hell breaks loose. Twists, turns and ironies of life weave together in this well-crafted script.
Full Tight is the second Marathi offering by SonyLIV after the massive success of ‘YOLO- You Only Live Once’. Starting July 18, it premieres every Wednesday and will also be available with English subtitles on the platform. Media Partner – Lokmat.com, India’s No.1 Marathi News & Infotainment Portal.
MUMBAI: If cricket were a binge-worthy series, this one just dropped its most explosive pilot yet. The opening weekend of the 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League has come out swinging, smashing records across both television and digital platforms and reaffirming the tournament’s unmatched pull in India’s sporting and media landscape.
Backed by two high-octane matches featuring 200-plus run chases, the tournament delivered a combined reach of over 515 million viewers across linear TV and digital platforms via JioStar’s broadcast ecosystem, including Star Sports and JioHotstar. More tellingly, engagement surged alongside reach, with total watch-time hitting 32.6 billion minutes, a sharp 26 per cent jump over the opening weekend of the previous season.
The numbers reveal a deeper shift in how India watches cricket. Connected TV (CTV) consumption rose by 30 per cent, while peak concurrency on digital platforms jumped 61 per cent, signalling a growing appetite for shared, big-screen streaming experiences. On traditional television, the momentum held strong, with TV ratings (TVR) climbing 24 per cent compared to earlier seasons’ opening matches.
A key driver of this spike has been the evolution of the viewing experience itself. This season introduced differentiated feeds, most notably a Hindi CTV broadcast featuring cricketing voices such as Ravichandran Ashwin, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan. Blending expert analysis with a watch-along format, the feed has added a conversational, almost second-screen feel without requiring viewers to leave their screens.
According to JioStar CEO for Sports Ishan Chatterjee, at the opening weekend underscores not just scale but also the depth of engagement that live cricket continues to command. He noted that the combination of large-screen viewing and digital interactivity is creating a more immersive and personalised experience, while also delivering tangible outcomes for brand partners.
From the league’s perspective, the early numbers point to a tournament that continues to reinvent itself. Arun Singh Dhumal, Chairman of the IPL, said the strong start reflects how high-quality cricket paired with enhanced viewing formats is resonating with audiences nationwide, while Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Devajit Saikia highlighted the “quality of engagement” as a key takeaway, not just the scale.
Commercially too, the opening weekend signals robust advertiser confidence. The broadcast is led by co-presenting sponsors including Google (Search AI Mode), Campa Energy, and Havells & Lloyd, alongside co-powered partners such as Birla Opus, Hero Motocorp and Amazon. A long tail of associate sponsors from OpenAI and Asian Paints to Flipkart and Amul further reflects the league’s unmatched ability to aggregate advertiser interest at scale.
Taken together, the opening weekend numbers are less a spike and more a statement. With 515 million viewers, 32.6 billion minutes of watch-time, and double-digit growth across formats, IPL 2026 has not just started strong, it has set the tone for a season that looks poised to push the boundaries of both sport and spectacle.
