iWorld
Amazon Prime Video India ties up with OML
MUMBAI: Amazon Prime Video India has entered into a partnership with OML (Only Much Louder) to release 14 comedy specials exclusively for Amazon. The shows are set to launch in May.
“Each of the hour long specials will debut on the platform exclusively in May. OML best comedy talent will available to prime members exclusively and on demand,” said Amazon Prime Video India director and country head Nitesh Kripalani.
Recently, Zodiak Kids had announced that it has sold a series of titles to Amazon India, in a deal amassing over 100 hours. The shows are set to launch on Amazon Prime Video in early 2017.
Amazon India has acquired all four seasons of the popular children’s animation Horrid Henry. The show centres on a boy who constantly feels like life just is not fair. He is only a kid, but with a perfect little brother like Peter, a Mum and Dad who would love him dearly if only he starts behaving, well like a kid, and a moody girl next door who is on a mission to make Henry’s life miserable, who can blame him?
Talking about the partnership, Only Much Louder COO Ajay Nair adds “We are very excited to partner with Amazon Prime Video on this series of stand-up specials. Stand-up comedy in India has become massive over the last few years with a huge fan base across the country and the comics have worked tremendously hard to create and perform the funniest material for their fans. Amazon Prime Video is a great destination for fans to watch full hour-long sets of their favourite comics in one go.”
The comedians whose specials will be released as part of this partnership include:
- Sapan Verma (Obsessive Comedic Disorder has already launched on Amazon Prime Video in December 2016 to rave reviews)
- Sorabh Pant (My dad thinks he’s funny has already launched on Amazon Prime Video)
- Kanan Gill
- Kenny Sebastian (Don’t be that guy)
- Zakir Khan, (Single magar haq se)
- Biswa Kalyan Rath
- Naveen Richard (Don’t make that face)
- Anuvab Pal (Alive at 40)
- Varun Thakur (Vicky this side, Varun that side
- Azeem Banatwalla (Cometh the hour)
- Neville Shah
- Aadar Malik (Stand up – The Musical)
- S Aravind (Madrasi Da)
- EIC Outrage special, a live show based on EIC’s immensely popular EIC Outrage series will be part of the series.
These specials will be shot at iconic venues across the country in the first half of 2017 and two to three specials will be released exclusively on Amazon Prime Video every month.
iWorld
WhatsApp may soon let users to pick who sees their status updates
The messaging giant is borrowing a page from Instagram’s playbook as it pushes to give users finer control over their social circles.
CALIFORNIA: WhatsApp is quietly working on a feature that could make its Status function considerably smarter and considerably more private.
According to reports from beta tracking platforms, the app is testing a tool called Status lists, which would allow users to create named groups such as close friends, family and colleagues, and control precisely which group sees each update. It is a meaningful step up from the platform’s current blunt instruments, which offer only three options: share with all contacts, exclude specific people, or manually select individuals each time.
The new feature draws an obvious comparison with Instagram’s Close Friends function, and the resemblance is unlikely to be accidental. Both platforms sit within Meta’s family, and the company has been nudging them toward a common logic of audience segmentation for some time.
The move also fits neatly into WhatsApp’s broader privacy push. The platform has been rolling out enhanced chat protections and is exploring the introduction of usernames, which would allow users to connect without exchanging phone numbers. Status lists extend that philosophy from messaging into broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Status itself has been evolving well beyond its origins as a simple photo-and-text slideshow. The feature now supports music stickers, collages, longer videos and interactive elements, pushing it closer to the social-media-style story format pioneered by Snapchat and refined by Instagram. In that context, finer audience controls are not merely a privacy feature. They are a precondition for people sharing more.
The feature remains in development and has not been confirmed for release. WhatsApp routinely tests tools that are later modified or quietly shelved. But the direction of travel is clear: the app wants Status to be a destination, not an afterthought. Letting users decide exactly who is in the audience is how it gets there.
