iWorld
Continuously launching content targeted at different taste clusters ensures good retention: ZEE5’s Aparna Acharekar
MUMBAI: Among the home-grown over-the-top platforms, ZEE5 has shown most aggression in creating its original content library. As a part of its content strategy for the upcoming year, franchises will play a key role along with a line-up of nearly 20 original films.
“We’ve lined-up enough shows till March 20-21 with backup shows too. This 20-21 is going to be huge. If 19-20 was big then 20-21 is going to be bigger and I don’t know how 21 -22 will be,” ZEE5 India programming head Aparna Acharekar shares ecstatically.
The OTT platform plans to focus on its franchise shows. “Franchise will be key to content strategy. So, some of our successful shows from 18-19 and 19-20 will go into new seasons. Some new shows will be introduced as now we have acquired newer taste clusters and new audiences. Every month we will have series, films and regional content launch. This is in addition to all the commercial movie acquisitions,” she adds further.
Sharing her understanding of the Indian audience, she notes that the platform looks at audiences from the point of view of taste clusters rather than classifying them demographically. According to her, it’s not really about one type of content and audience is not behind one genre. There are shows which do well across age groups and cities. Moreover, she also mentions that tastes also evolve over a period of time. According to her, people are happy to sample all sorts of genres.
“OTT is now maturing. It’s really now not so early for us but the Indian consumer is happy to pay for content. The Indian consumer wants good engaging content so all the fear we always had around whether the Indian consumer will pay or is it only free audience, I think that is over. The industry need not worry about it anymore as Indian consumers are happy to pay for good content. He is value-conscious but at the same time if there is enough interesting content for him he is happy to take a long term subscription also,” she says.
According to her, from a consumer retention point of view, consistent releases and a good line up for all sorts of taste clusters is very important. “Continuously launching content targeted at different taste clusters ensure that there is good retention on a platform and then, of course, the complete convenience, the experience of making payment easy is also important,” she adds.
Re-emphasising the regional boom in OTT, she said that regional audiences give healthy responses to OTT. They not only consume content of their language but also happily adopt content dubbed in their language.
“We have seen very good adoption of ZEE5 because we also give consumers an option to change the display language of the app. So if somebody is not comfortable navigating in English, he can change the display language to Hindi, Tamil or Telugu or any of the 12 different Indian languages we offer and we have seen a great uptake for that also. In fact, with every passing month, we see more uptake of this and the relative share of English as a display language going down,” she adds.
The challenge of finding good scripts and writers is still there. There are good content makers but it is difficult to learn the art of the writing for the medium. Writing for a 400-minute series is like a two-hour-long movie. Additionally, every episode needs to be engaging.
iWorld
Netflix cuts jobs in product division amid restructuring
Layoffs hit creative studio unit as leadership and strategy shifts unfold.
MUMBAI: The streaming wars may be fought on screen, but the latest plot twist is unfolding behind the scenes. Netflix has reportedly begun laying off several dozen employees from its product division as part of an internal reorganisation, according to a report by Variety. The cuts are believed to have primarily affected the company’s creative studio unit, which works on marketing assets such as in app trailers, promotional visuals and live experience content for the streaming platform.
The company has not disclosed the exact number of employees impacted.
According to the report, the layoffs were not tied to employee performance. Instead, the restructuring eliminated certain roles while other employees were reassigned to different teams within the organisation.
The roles affected are understood to include designers, producers and creative specialists responsible for marketing and brand experience initiatives.
The job cuts come as Netflix adjusts its leadership structure and reshapes its product and creative teams. Last month, Elizabeth Stone was promoted from chief technology officer to chief product and technology officer, giving her oversight of product, engineering and data operations across the company.
Earlier, in December 2025, Netflix also appointed Martin Rose as head of creative for global brand and partnerships, a move seen as part of a broader restructuring of the company’s brand and product functions.
Despite the layoffs, Netflix remains one of the largest employers in the streaming sector. The company is estimated to employ around 16,000 people globally, with roughly 70 percent of its workforce based in the United States and Canada. In 2023, the company reported approximately 13,000 employees, indicating that its headcount had grown significantly before the latest restructuring.
The workforce changes arrive at a time when Netflix is navigating a shifting financial and strategic landscape in the global entertainment industry.
The streaming giant recently secured $2.8 billion in additional cash after receiving a breakup fee from Paramount Skydance following its withdrawal from a deal involving Warner Bros. Discovery.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Netflix co chief executive Ted Sarandos explained that the company had evaluated multiple scenarios during the negotiations but chose not to match the competing offer once it learned that a higher bid had been submitted.
Netflix had capped its offer at $27.75 per share and ultimately stepped back rather than pursue Paramount’s $111 billion acquisition deal, which included a personal guarantee.
Sarandos also cautioned that the financing structure behind the Paramount Skydance transaction could have ripple effects across the entertainment industry.
According to him, the debt heavy deal could trigger significant cost cutting, with David Ellison, chief executive of Paramount Skydance, expected to eliminate about $16 billion in costs and potentially cut thousands of jobs as part of the integration process.
For Netflix, the current restructuring appears to be part of a broader attempt to streamline operations while continuing to invest in product, technology and global content even as the streaming industry enters a new phase of consolidation and financial discipline.
