iWorld
GRB Media Ranch licenses multiple seasons of ‘Untold Stories of the E.R.’ to +SBT Brazil
Mumbai: GRB Media Ranch president Sophie Ferron announced that the company has licensed seven seasons of Untold Stories of the E.R. to Brazil’s streaming platform +SBT. The series was also recently licensed as a format to Khelgejo for production in Africa, marking GRB Media’s continued territorial and format expansion for this popular program. GRB Media Ranch acquisition & sales executive Liz Levenson will attend MIPCancun to engage with Latin American market representatives.
Untold Stories of the E.R. is a medical docuseries re-enacting real emergency room cases, showcasing doctors’ expertise and decision-making under intense pressure. GRB Studios’ CEO, Gary R Benz created the iconic series, and he exec-produced 13 seasons within 15 years. The series has been broadcast in 214 territories and has received strong format interest.
Ferron stated: “We’re thrilled to announce the continued success of Untold Stories of the E.R., as it finds a new home with SBT. It’s rare to come across an IP that continues to resonate with audiences across the globe year after year, and we’re incredibly grateful for its enduring appeal. This series has proven time and again that great storytelling transcends borders, and we look forward to seeing Untold Stories connecting with Brazilian viewers once more — and we anticipate it will inspire local productions in the near future.”
SBT’s content acquisition and sales manager, Goyo Pessoa Garcia stated, “+SBT, SBT’s streaming platform, aims to bring Brazilian audiences the best content options across a wide variety of genres. Adding Untold Stories of the ER to our catalog seeks to meet the demand of viewers who crave quality docuseries productions and are drawn to the drama and emotional stories each episode brings.”
iWorld
Meta introduces new AI tools to boost discovery-to-purchase journey
From shoppable Reels to generative video, platforms get smarter at turning attention into sales.
MUMBAI: Meta is turning “scroll and stop” into “scroll, stop, and shop” and it’s using AI to make the whole journey feel almost effortless. The company has announced several new tools and enhancements designed to help brands guide people from discovery to purchase more effectively, while delivering more relevant and personalised experiences across its platforms.
Creators can now add product links more broadly on Instagram Reels, turning their content into shoppable moments. Businesses in 22 countries, including India, will soon be able to share their product catalogues with creators, opening up a new sales channel for brands and fresh monetisation opportunities for creators.
The Creator Marketplace has also been upgraded with enhanced target audience filtering, integrated with Ads Manager. This helps businesses quickly find creators who are a strong match for their goals. Campaigns using Partnership Ads deliver, on average, 19 per cent lower CPAs, 13 per cent higher click-through rates, and 71 per cent higher median brand lift.
Meta is expanding Reels Trending Ads inventory with new content categories including TV & Movies, Travel, Business, Finance & Investments. According to Meta’s analysis of 59 studies, Reels Trending Ads delivered an incremental 6.6 percentage point Ad Recall lift compared to control groups.
AI-Powered Shopping Enhancements
- Product Set Optimisation is now in testing, allowing retail media networks to promote specific products with detailed reporting. Early results show 17 per cent lower median seller cost per purchase.
- Product Showcase is being expanded so marketers can upload one image or video and let Meta’s AI automatically add relevant products as a carousel when it improves performance.
Meta is expanding its generative AI capabilities with:
- UGC-style videos featuring avatars and voiceovers
- Easier voiceover translation and text overlay translation in a single streamlined flow
- New tools to automatically turn product catalogues into dynamic video ads for Reels
Early testing of the Advantage+ creative video generation tool showed a 10 per cent increase in CTR and 8 per cent increase in CVR on average. Campaigns using catalog product video saw 20 per cent more conversions per dollar, while Reels placements with catalog product video delivered 33 per cent higher incremental conversions.
Industry voices welcomed the updates. Vikas Chawla of Social Beat called Partnership Ads a “flywheel” for authentic content that converts. Niti Kumar of Spark Foundry and Sadhvi Dhawan of Blink Digital highlighted the power of Reels Trending Ads for cultural relevance and guaranteed share of voice. Ramasish Bhowmik of Adbuffs noted that Meta’s GenAI tools are giving teams a clear competitive edge.
In a world where attention is fleeting but shopping intent can spark in seconds, Meta is betting that smarter AI will help brands turn discovery into decisions faster than ever. The message is clear: the future of advertising isn’t just about reaching people, it’s about reaching them at exactly the right moment, with exactly the right product.
