iWorld
Arre’s ‘A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend’ wins at WebFest
MUMBAI: Arré’s first web series A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend has won the best overall web series and best suspense/thriller at South Florida WebFest in Miami. The show has been selected from among a selected screening of the best 27 global web series and short films that were shortlisted.
A.I.SHA, Artificial Intelligence Simulated Humanoid Assistant (A.I.SHA) is India’s first AI-based digital series. The story pivots around the widely debated and chilling premise of what happens when artificial intelligence develops feelings and consciousness. Sam, the show’s protagonist, creates A.I.SHA, without realising the consequences, and thus begins a series of events that rapidly spirals out of control.
“I am happy that A.I.SHA has broken new ground in the web series space in India and globally. We’re now excited about Season 2 and hopefully will pack in enough thrills and chills for our viewers,” said Arre founder B. Saikumar.
The series is directed by Sahir Raza, written by Raghu Ram and Harman Singha and produced for Arré by Monozygotic. The show was presented by Gillette Flexball. To bring technical authenticity, the series has also partnered with Palo Alto Networks, a next-generation security company, as Cyber Security Advisers and Dell as the Technology Partner.
Following the resounding success of season 1, Arré also launched a Telugu version of the show in association with Yupp TV and also plans to release a Tamil version of the show to reach out to a wider audience.
The team has also begun pre-production work for season 2, which is planned for launch early next year.
iWorld
T20 World Cup ’26: India–England semi-final sets global streaming record of 619 million views on JioHotstar
India–England semi-final records 65.2 million peak streams
MUMBAI: The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 set a new milestone in global sports streaming, as the India–England semi-final drew record digital audiences on JioHotstar.
The match on 5 March registered 65.2 million peak concurrent viewers, the highest ever recorded for a live event on any streaming platform worldwide. The semi-final also generated 619 million views, making it the most streamed T20 international match in history.
The landmark audience numbers were driven largely by viewers in India, setting a record achieved within a single market, rather than through aggregated viewership across multiple countries.
The high-scoring encounter between India national cricket team and England cricket team produced 499 runs across both innings, fuelling widespread fan engagement across platforms.
According to the International Cricket Council, the digital record surpassed the previous global benchmark of 65 million concurrent viewers, set in November 2024 by another international streaming platform.
Across television and digital platforms combined, the semi-final reached more than 320 million viewers, while total watch time exceeded 23 billion minutes, making it the most watched T20 international match ever.
“This World Cup demonstrates the immense passion of cricket fans and the progress made in bringing the game closer to audiences worldwide,” said ICC chairman Jay Shah.
“This moment reflects the scale of cricket fandom in India and the technological capability required to serve hundreds of millions of viewers simultaneously.”
JioStar vice-chairman Uday Shankar, said the audience surge underscored the future of large-scale digital entertainment.
“One in every three Indians tuned in to watch the second semi-final. Delivering such an experience at scale requires the very best of technology,” he said.
The 619 million views during the match also eclipsed the 533 million views recorded during the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
With the final yet to be played, the 2026 tournament has already set multiple benchmarks in audience reach and digital engagement.
India will face the New Zealand national cricket team in the final on 8 March at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The match will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network and streamed on JioHotstar.
