Brands
The Smurfs go global on TCL channel for 50 million viewers
SHENZHEN: TCL, the world’s second-largest TV brand, and Peyo Company have joined forces to bring the timeless charm of The Smurfs to millions of households around the globe.
With over 14 per cent market share and a free streaming platform boasting more than 50 million users, TCL Channel is set to broadcast the classic Smurf series in six languages: English, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Arabic and Hindi. This makes 2026 a double celebration, marking both the 45th anniversary of the series and its worldwide availability on TCL CTVs.
TCL Channel head of business development Rebecca Wan said, “We are thrilled to welcome The Smurfs to our platform. This partnership strengthens our commitment to offering high-quality, family-friendly entertainment for our global audience. It’s a joy to bring such a beloved series to millions of homes at no cost.”
Peyo Company CCO audiovisual & music Nele De Wilde added, “This partnership kicks off our 45th anniversary celebrations. Since 1981, The Smurfs have enchanted families across generations. We are proud to continue sharing Peyo’s legacy with new audiences worldwide.”
The deal highlights TCL’s focus on delivering diverse, engaging content for children and families, while reinforcing its global reach in free streaming entertainment.
Brands
Samsung certifies 1,000 Maharashtra students in AI and coding
The South Korean electronics giant marks its first large-scale skilling push in the state, with women making up nearly half the national programme’s enrolment
PUNE: Samsung has put 1,000 students in Maharashtra through a certified training programme in artificial intelligence and coding, the largest such drive the South Korean electronics company has run in the state and a signal that corporate India’s skilling ambitions are moving well beyond the boardroom brochure.
The certifications were awarded under Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC), the company’s flagship corporate social responsibility programme, which launched in India in 2022 with the stated aim of democratising access to future-technology education. The 1,000 graduates were drawn from four institutions: 127 from Savitribai Phule Pune University, 373 from Pimpri Chinchwad University, 250 from D.Y. Patil University’s Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology and 250 from Anjuman-I-Islam’s Kalsekar Technical Campus. All completed training in either AI or coding and programming, the two disciplines Samsung has identified as the critical pillars of the digital economy.
The programme does not stop at technical training. Soft-skills development and career-readiness modules are baked into the curriculum, a deliberate attempt to close the gap between what universities teach and what employers actually want.
“India’s digital growth story will ultimately be shaped by the quality of its talent pipeline,” said Shubham Mukherjee, head of CSR and corporate communications at Samsung Southwest Asia. “As technologies like AI move from the periphery to the core of industries, skilling must evolve from basic training to building real-world capability. This milestone in Maharashtra reflects how industry and academia can come together to create a future-ready workforce that is both globally competitive and locally relevant.”
The Maharashtra drive sits within a rapidly scaling national effort. Samsung Innovation Campus trained 20,000 young people across India in 2025, hitting its stated target for the year. Women account for 48 per cent of national enrolments, a figure the company cites as evidence of its push for an inclusive technology ecosystem. The programme is implemented in partnership with the Electronics Sector Skills Council of India and the Telecom Sector Skill Council.
Samsung, which is marking 30 years in India this year, runs SIC alongside two other initiatives, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow and Samsung DOST, as part of a broader effort to build what it calls a generation of innovators with both the technical depth and the problem-solving mindset to thrive in a fast-moving digital world.
A thousand certified students is a tidy headline. Whether they find jobs that match their new skills is the harder question, and the one that will ultimately determine whether corporate skilling programmes like this one are genuine pipelines or well-photographed gestures.
