iWorld
Increased channel action ‘teleports’ Essel Shyam business
NEW DELHI: Telecom and V-sat company Essel Shyam Communications Ltd. is bullish on garnering increased business from providing teleport-related services to broadcasting companies in India.
Having just finished doing the work on a teleport for Rajat Sharma’s proposed news channel, India TV, Essel Shyam Communications says at least half a dozen business proposals are in the pipeline, which would come through over the next few months. This also includes work for Zoom, an entertainment channel being proposed by the Times of India group.
Teleports are the gateways that connect satellite circuits with terrestrial fiber optics and microwave circuits. Brigading the gap between land and sky, they allow broadcasters, cable-casters, and public and private network operators to outsource a non-core function that is critical to their businesses.
Pointing out India TV was the last project completed, Essel Shyam Communications director MN Visa told indiantelvision.com that the company has already done teleport-related work for five companies till now, including providing news gathering equipment to a pubcaster Doordarshan.
“As days pass and more channels try to make their presence felt in India, we are confident of generating more business, especially from news channels,” he added.
Apart from doing work for Maa TV, Jeevan TV (two South Indian channels), Essel Shyam is working on a project for another proposed religious channel and has the mandate for all the three channels being proposed by Times TV.
The teleport services offered by the company includes facilities like satellite news gathering (flyway, drive away & mobile) and play-out services.
The Indian government took a decision in July 2000 to permit the Indian private companies to set up uplinking hub/teleports for licensing /hiring out to other broadcasters. This decision was taken by the policy-makers to attempt making India a hub for uplinking on the lines of Hong Kong and Singapore.
Essel Shyam provides both full-time and occasional/ special-event broadcasting through an integrated fiber and satellite network.
A joint venture between the Subhash Chandra-promoted Essel group and Shyam group of companies , two major corporate identities in media and telecom, Essel Shyam Communications aims to have synergy in the Indian market where the telecom, broadcast and technology segments are once again seeing a boom.
The joint venture was established in 1996,while the operations began in December 1997. NDTV, during the days it was providing content to Star News, is the first client of the company.
iWorld
Micro-Dramas Surge in India, Redefining Mobile Content Habits
Meta-Ormax study maps rapid rise of short-form storytelling among 18–44 audiences.
MUMBAI: Micro-dramas aren’t just short, they’re the snack that ate Indian entertainment, and now everyone’s bingeing between the sofa cushions. Meta, in partnership with Ormax Media, has released ‘Micro Dramas: The India Story’, a comprehensive study unveiled at the inaugural Meta Marketing Summit: Micro-Drama Edition. The report maps how the vertical, bite-sized format is reshaping content consumption for mobile-first audiences aged 18–44 across 14 states.
Conducted between November 2025 and January 2026 through 50 in-depth interviews and 2,000 personal surveys, the research reveals that 65 per cent of viewers discovered micro-dramas within the last year proof of explosive adoption. Nearly 89 per cent encounter the format through social feeds and recommendations, making algorithm-driven discovery the primary engine rather than active search.
Key viewing patterns show a median of 3.5 hours per week (about 30 minutes daily) spread across 7–8 short sessions. Consumption peaks between 8 pm and midnight, with additional spikes during commutes and work breaks classic “in-between moments” that the format fills perfectly. Around 57 per cent of viewing happens in ambient mode (while doing something else), and 90 per cent is solo, enabling more intimate, personal storytelling.
Romance, family drama and comedy lead genre preferences. Audiences show growing openness to AI-generated content, 47 per cent find it unique and creative, while only 6 per cent say they would avoid it entirely. Regional languages are surging after Hindi and English, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada dominate consumption.
Meta, director, media & entertainment (India) Shweta Bajpai said, “Micro-drama isn’t a passing trend, it’s rewriting the rules of Indian entertainment. In under a year, an entirely new category of platforms has emerged, built audience habits from scratch, and created a business vertical that is scaling fast.”
Ormax Media founder-CEO Shailesh Kapoor added, “Micro-dramas are beginning to show the early signs of becoming a distinct content category in India’s digital entertainment landscape. When a format aligns closely with how audiences naturally engage with their devices, it has the potential to scale very quickly.”
The study proposes ecosystem-wide responsibility, universal signposting of commercial intent, shared accountability among advertisers, platforms, creators, schools and parents, built-in safeguards, and formal media literacy in schools.
In a feed that never sleeps and a day that never stops, micro-dramas have slipped into the cracks of every spare minute turning 30-second stories into the new national pastime, one vertical swipe at a time.
