MAM
ZEE5 installs real-time billboards for travellers
MUMBAI: ZEE5, India’s fastest growing OTT platform, re-imagines out-of-home advertising (OOH) by installing real-time, dynamic billboards across Mumbai’s Western Express Highway (WEH). This will inform commuters of the estimated time of arrival (ETA) to their destination coupled with what to do while travelling by recommending favourite shows like Kaafir and Rangbaaz to watch on the ZEE5 app. This is more pertinent given the traffic woes faced by the commuters on account of the monsoon delays.
To utilise the maximum time of their travel, ZEE5 gives a solution by a perfect combination of content, technology, and data. These recommendations of episodes and series will be dynamic and will change in real-time along with the destinations en route. This Idea was conceptualised by the ZEE5 internal brand team and executed by the outdoor agency Laqshya. The billboard went live on 27 July and will stay for the duration of 30 days till 26 August 2019.
This is a classic example of how a brand can innovate with smart amalgamation of data and technology in the cluttered OOH space. With this activity, ZEE5 aims to target consumers real-time and make the OTT platform as the go-to entertainment destination anytime – anywhere.
ZEE5 India business head Manish Aggarwal said, “ZEE5 has always been a platform built for the masses and OOH is an important medium for us to reach out to our target audience. We have been innovating in the outdoor space and it’s our constant endeavour to use data and technology as we are a data technology-led company, to reach out to our consumers in a targeted manner. With 100,000+ hours of content in 12 languages, we want to provide our consumers with an enriching personal viewing experience and democratise content by making it available anytime-anywhere.”
MAM
Paramount set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in $81 billion deal
Shareholders back merger, combined entity could reshape streaming and studios.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… consolidation, Hollywood’s latest blockbuster might be happening off-screen. Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery have voted in favour of selling the company to Paramount in a deal valued at $81 billion rising to nearly $111 billion including debt setting the stage for one of the biggest shake-ups in modern media. The proposed merger, still subject to regulatory approvals, would bring together a vast portfolio spanning HBO Max, CNN, and franchises such as Harry Potter under the same umbrella as Paramount’s own heavyweights, including Top Gun and CBS.
At the heart of the deal is streaming scale. Executives have indicated plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single platform, potentially creating a stronger challenger to giants like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video. Current market data suggests HBO Max holds around 12 per cent of US on-demand subscriptions, compared to Paramount+’s 3 per cent, together still trailing Netflix’s 19 per cent and Disney’s combined 27 per cent via Disney+ and Hulu.
Paramount CEO David Ellison has signalled that while platforms may merge, HBO’s creative identity will remain intact, stating the brand should “stay HBO” even within a broader ecosystem.
Beyond streaming, the deal would redraw the map for film production. Combining two of Hollywood’s oldest studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., the new entity aims to scale output to over 30 films annually, while maintaining a 45-day theatrical window. Warner Bros. currently commands around 21 per cent of the US box office, compared to Paramount’s 6 per cent, underscoring the strategic weight of the acquisition.
But scale comes with scrutiny. Critics warn that fewer players could mean reduced consumer choice, rising subscription costs, and potential job cuts as the combined company looks to streamline overlapping operations while managing billions in debt.
The news business, too, faces a reset. CNN would join forces at least structurally with Paramount-owned CBS, raising questions about editorial independence and positioning. The merger has already drawn political attention in the United States, particularly given perceived ties between the Ellison family and Donald Trump, though the company maintains that newsroom autonomy will be preserved.
If approved, the deal would mark another milestone in Hollywood’s consolidation wave shrinking the industry’s traditional “big six” studios to a “big four”, with Paramount joining Disney, Universal, and Sony at the top table.
In an industry built on storytelling, this merger may well become its most consequential plot twist yet.
