iWorld
Netflix Originals most in-demand among OTTs: Report
MUMBAI: At the moment, the future of streaming services' uncrowned king Netflix has been over-discussed due to the entry of deep-pocket competitors. But till the third quarter of 2019 (July-September), Netflix has been able to retain its leadership position. A report from Parrot Analytics says that Netflix digital originals has the highest share of demand for digital original series around the world.
According to the report, 61.3 per cent of the global demand for all digital originals is expressed for Netflix originals. However, despite the dominance of Stranger Things this quarter, the 61.3 per cent figure for 2019 Q3 is 1.3 per cent lower than the 62.6 per cent Netflix share in 2019 Q2. On the other hand, Amazon Prime Video has the largest demand gain in this period as its share grew 1.6 per cent from the previous quarter’s (2019 Q2) 10.8 per cent demand share. Across all other platforms the demand share has been relatively stable across quarters.
The report also provided an insight into how the genres and subgenres of digital originals performed in the quarter. In all the markets, undoubtedly drama was the highest in-demand genre. While US has the highest digital original drama demand share at 66.9 per cent, with 63.8 per cent of demand, Columbia acquires the second position. Peru is one of the three most drama dominated markets in the report where drama captures a robust 62.3 per cent of demand share. In all the ten markets- United States, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, United Kingdom, Poland, Greece, Vietnam, Malaysia, The Philippines- Stranger Things was highest in-demand digital original in the quarter.
Among the sub-genres, sci-fi genre dominated the top position in almost all the markets. In Malaysia and the Philippines superhero series just edged out sci-fi drama for the top spot in the most in-demand subgenre ranking. On the other hand, fantasy drama acquired the top spot in Vietnam. In Greece, Argentina and Peru crime drama peaked as the second most in-demand subgenre.
In the US market, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu are neck and neck to be the platform with the second highest share of demand for digital original drama series. Prime Video surged in the final month of the quarter to overtake Hulu. Other than in the US, Prime video witnessed good growth in the UK, Greece, Vietnam.
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.
