iWorld
Discovery Plus subscription well ahead of estimation: Issac John
KOLKATA: Just as the pandemic starting snarling in India, Discovery Plus had only just taken off its OTT journey. However, the lockdown and the boost it gave to digital viewing seems to have aided the new entrant.
“We launched on the eve of lockdown. So a lot of OTTs have data that how subscribers were moving before and how they are behaving after it. We didn't have that visibility. We were in the lockdown when we launched and consumption happened during the lockdown and we continue to live through this. But, our subscription estimates are actually well ahead of what we had estimated. There has definitely been a lot of consumer love that's come our way in terms of consumers going for Discovery Plus subscriptions,” says Discovery Digital (south Asia) business head Issac John.
Some other indicators, John said, were the 4.5 ratings for the app on App Store and Play Store as well as qualitative comments such as being able to watch with their families. He added that Discovery Plus is the only OTT player which works with two kinds of vectors. While one is essentially the lifelong learner’s vector, it is also catering to certain passion verticals.
After getting consumer requests, Discovery Plus has also launched its service on Fire TV, even though its main priority was iOS, Android and mobile web. Android TV app is also on the way.
“We have seen time spent on Fire TV is 2.4x than the mobile format. I think what ends up happening is that when you consume content as premium as we have at Discovery Plus, your attachment to the content really goes up significantly That is also essentially like a clear sign on of how consumers love us on the big screen,” John added.
Discovery Plus, emphasising the big-screen delight experience, launched a new marketing campaign that runs across all 14 Discovery network channels as well as on all key digital platforms.
“A part of our retention strategy is to ensure that the consumers have enough choice pertaining to the specific interests they came for. Moreover, at any point in time, in any given month, we will launch anywhere between 20 to 30 shows from our bank which is a mix of specials, exclusive acquisitions, etc,” John stated.
John said that it would be launching some premium BBC titles to strengthen the learning vector as well as female-friendly content, which haven’t been exposed so far.
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iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
