iWorld
Amazon merges MX Player with miniTV to expand ad supported streaming offering
MUMBAI: Amazon on Monday announced that it had closed the acquisition of select assets of MX Player, including the MX Player app, to merge with its ad-supported video-on-demand (AVoD) service, Amazon miniTV. It was in June that several media outlets had reported that Amazon was close to acquiring the once Times group owned app.
Post-acquisition, the app has been renamed as Amazon MX Player. It will continue to provide its library of shows for which it was known to more than 250 million users in India. Among these: Aashram, Dharavi Bank, Campus Diaries, Physicswallah, and Yeh Meri Family. The streamer had also built a fan following for its popular Korean, Mandarin, and Turkish shows dubbed in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. Viewers will be able to access the service through apps on mobile, Amazon.in, Prime Video, Fire TV, and connected TVs.
“Today we are bringing together the vast reach of MX Player, with the advertising tech that leverages Amazon’s billions of customer signals,” said Amazon India head of advertising Girish Prabhu. “It’s about enabling all brands, not just the ones selling on Amazon, to reach and deliver relevant advertising to a very large and engaged base across India. It’s about directly measuring outcomes from the very top of the funnel to the very bottom.”
“Amazon and MX Player obsess over customer experience and are both believers in the future of free entertainment,” added Amazon MX Player head Karan Bedi. “Being part of Amazon will let us continue to delight millions of viewers across the country. We will offer high-quality entertainment and streaming experiences faster than we could have done independently, while continuing to keep the service free. This merger will mean great things for our viewers, advertisers and content partners, and will let us bring MX Player to even more people in India.”
iWorld
Samay Raina returns with Still Alive, confronts 2025 controversy in bold comeback special
Comeback set tackles controversy, blending humour with raw storytelling
MUMBAI: Samay Raina is set to release his new stand-up comedy special, Still Alive, on YouTube on April 7, 2026, marking a high-profile return following a turbulent year.
The trailer for the special dropped on April 5, offering a glimpse into what Raina describes as a raw and unfiltered set that leans as much on honesty as it does on humour.
Positioned as a comeback of sorts, Still Alive draws heavily from the controversy surrounding his show India’s Got Latent in early 2025. The episode led to legal trouble, multiple FIRs, and a lengthy six-hour interrogation by the Maharashtra Cyber Cell, placing the comedian at the centre of intense public scrutiny.
Rather than sidestep the episode, Raina leans into it. The special reflects on the fallout and his personal journey through it, blending observational comedy with moments of emotional candour. Early audience feedback from live performances suggests the tone is less about rapid-fire punchlines and more about storytelling with bite.
The special was filmed during his global Still Alive & Unfiltered tour, which ran from August 2025 to early 2026. The tour saw Raina perform across major international venues, including the Madison Square Garden Theatre in New York, a milestone that places him among the youngest Indian comedians to take that stage.
The title itself signals resilience. “Still Alive” is a nod to navigating both legal and public backlash while choosing to remain unapologetically authentic, a theme that appears to anchor the set.
With the special set to premiere online, all eyes are now on how audiences respond to a performance that promises equal parts reflection and wit. For Raina, the message is clear. He is not just back, he is ready to be heard on his own terms.
