iWorld
DistroTV and OnePlus TV partner to bring top notch streaming service
Mumbai: DistroTV, one of the largest independent, free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) app, has announced that it is expanding its content offerings to OnePlus TV. OnePlus TV users can stream DistroTV’s impressive and diverse content lineup with 270 channels globally and 180 channels in India anytime on the Cloud TV platform.
DistroTV features more than 270 Channels globally and 180 channels in India and growing, with everything from news, sports, movies, music & entertainment, and lifestyle content. This includes original content and new channel offerings that cater to Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, English, Punjabi and adding more languages and channels.
“We are excited to partner with OnePlus. India is a large and vibrant digital market with Smart TV volumes at more than 90% of all new Televisions sold in the country. We are bringing the best of Indian and International FAST content to the Indian audiences,” said DistroScale (parent company of DistroTV) co-founder & CEO Navdeep Saini.
“The Connected TV ecosystem with FAST is bringing premium and brand safe AVOD opportunity with long form content partners on the live streaming channels. This partnership will emerge as a significant source of entertainment for OnePlus TV viewers. The advertisers will get an opportunity to reach out the premium digital audience on Connected TV with our ad solutions,” said DistroScale CEO (India, SEA and MENA) Vikas Khanchandani.
iWorld
Snapchat parent Snap cuts 16 per cent of workforce in AI-driven restructuring
The Snapchat parent is axing around 1,000 jobs and closing 300 open roles to save $500m, as artificial intelligence makes smaller teams the new normal
CALIFORNIA: Snap is snapping. The Snapchat parent has confirmed plans to cut around 1,000 employees, roughly 16 per cent of its full-time workforce, as it bets that artificial intelligence can do what headcount once required. Shares jumped more than 10 per cent in premarket trading on the news, a brisk vote of confidence from a market that has watched the stock shed about 31 per cent this year.
The restructuring, which also closes more than 300 open roles, follows pressure from activist investor Irenic Capital Management, which holds an economic interest of about 2.5 per cent in the company and has been loudly pushing Snap to tighten its portfolio and lift performance. The firm got what it asked for, and then some.
Chief executive Evan Spiegel told employees the cuts would reduce annualised expenses by more than $500m by the second half of the year. The company expects to incur charges of between $95m and $130m related to the layoffs, mostly severance, with the bulk landing in the second quarter. Staff in Snap’s North America team were asked to work from home on the day of the announcement.
The financial backdrop is not without bright spots. Snap expects first-quarter revenue to rise around 12 per cent to approximately $1.53 billion, broadly in line with analyst estimates. Adjusted core profit for the January to March quarter is forecast at about $233m, comfortably ahead of Wall Street’s expectation of $186.8m.
The harder question surrounds Specs, Snap’s augmented reality smart glasses subsidiary, which Irenic has urged the company to spin off or shut down entirely. The unit has absorbed more than $3.5 billion in investment and burns through approximately $500m in cash annually. Snap is pressing ahead regardless, with a consumer product expected later this year, even as Meta leads the market in the segment.
Spiegel is betting that leaner teams, smarter machines and a consumer AR play can restore Snap’s credibility with investors who have run out of patience. The redundancy notices have gone out. The harder restructuring, the one that requires a hit product rather than a headcount reduction, is still very much pending.
