iWorld
Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Quibi OTT makes quiet India launch
MUMBAI: Almost silently, without any hoopla or noise, the $1.75 billion-funded, Jeffrey Katzenberg-promoted short video streaming service Quibi made its debut in India on 6 April. Launched in the thick of the CoVid-2019 pandemic, Quibi, which is short for Quick bites, has a price point of Rs 699 a month for the ad-free service and is available for consumption only on smartphones.
Interested viewers can download it from the Google Play stores and the Apple store and try it free for 90 days before they have to cough up the monthly fee. (The US version has two services ad-loaded at $4.99, and ad-free at $7.99 a month.)
The app’s promise is that it has no long-form catalogue movies or shows; every piece of content on it is 10 minutes or less and almost every one of them is an original.
The app launched with 50 shows, but the idea is to launch fresh content every week to take the catalogue up to 175. The slate covers everything from drama to comedy to documentaries to news to sports. On its launch day, Quibi saw over 300,000 downloads.
The big plus of Quibi is its turnstile feature which allows viewers to seamlessly switch between landscape and vertical portrait views without affecting the viewing experience. In fact, each show is edited keeping these two views in mind and two streams are delivered.
Former eBay boss Meg Whitman, who is the CEO of Quibi, stated at CES in Las Vegas in January that as compared to YouTube and platforms where shows were being made at $200 or $5,000 a minute, the spends on her service were $100,000 for a minute of content, speaking highly about its quality and the makers.
In a LinkedIn post, Whitman said, “Quibi was created to entertain, inform, and inspire by reimagining the way mobile users consume premium video content on their phones. The world is a very different place today than it was even two weeks ago. It is our hope that Quibi will provide a small moment of laughter, inspiration, or information during this unprecedented moment in our lives. I am so proud of the hard work of the entire Quibi team who have poured their hearts into building this new technology platform from the ground up. And, thank you to everyone who has made this possible, from our incredible content creators to our outstanding brand partners.”
Among the top-notch creators who have been signed on for the service include: Steven Spielberg, Guillermo del Torro, Lena Waithe and Catherine Hardwick. This apart, there are special news shows being readied for it by NBC, BBC and Entertainment Weekly. Some of the shows which were trending on Quibi at the time of writing included: Most Dangerous Game, punk’d, Chrissy’s Court, The Report by NBC News, Fierce Queens, Shape of Pasta, Survive, Flipped, Thanks a Million, When the Streetlights Go on, etc.
During CES, Katzenberg and Whitman had stated that the service was for consumption on the go, during metro commutes, lunch or tea breaks or when someone had 10 minutes or less to spend on entertainment. With most consumers at home in many nations courtesy the COVID-2019 lockdown, the duo can be sure that viewers during the trial period will probably consume way beyond that.
iWorld
OneOTT partners with UP govt for Project GANGA broadband rollout
Initiative to connect 2M plus households, empower 8,000–10,000 entrepreneurs in 2–3 years.
MUMBAI: Uttar Pradesh just got a digital Ganga flow because when broadband meets ambition, even villages start streaming faster than city traffic. OneOTT Intertainment Ltd. (OIL), the broadband arm of Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) under the Hinduja Group, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the State Transformation Commission (STC), Government of Uttar Pradesh, for Project GANGA (Government Assisted Network for Growth & Advancement).
The MoU, signed on 7 March 2026 in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Finance & Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, aims to empower 8,000–10,000 local entrepreneurs at the Nyaya Panchayat level as independent Digital Service Providers (DSPs). A significant number of these DSPs are expected to be women. The initiative will deliver high-speed broadband to over 2 million households in the next 2–3 years and create direct and indirect employment for more than 100,000 individuals.
Project GANGA will support government priorities in digital education, healthcare and public services while enabling MSMEs and enterprises with reliable connectivity. DSPs will receive structured training, financing assistance, network build-out support and technology enablement.
STC CEO Manoj Kumar Singh said, “Project GANGA is a significant step toward expanding inclusive digital infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh. By empowering local entrepreneurs, the program will strengthen service delivery and ensure affordable digital access for underserved communities.”
OIL, MD & CEO and HGS whole-time director Vynsley Fernandes added, “This initiative reflects our long-term commitment to enabling digital access and economic opportunity at scale. Project GANGA is structured as a multi-year program focused on entrepreneur onboarding, network deployment and workforce development.”
OIL brings execution strength backed by HGS and NXTDIGITAL’s national footprint, which already connects over 5 million homes across more than 4,500 pin codes in 1,500 cities and towns through 15,000 plus franchise partners and over 2 lakh kilometres of fibre infrastructure. The ecosystem will support broadband, IPTV, OTT, CCTV, satellite internet and cybersecurity solutions for households, businesses and public institutions.
In a state racing toward digital inclusion, Project GANGA isn’t just laying cables, it’s laying the foundation for millions to connect, learn, heal and earn, one Nyaya Panchayat at a time.
