iWorld
Netflix plans to give free access for a weekend in India
KOLKATA: Netflix has been constantly innovating its marketing and promotion strategy in India to get more users to sign up. Now, it plans to give free access to the Indian audience for a weekend.
“We think that giving everyone in a country to access Netflix for free for a weekend could be a great idea to expose a bunch of new people to the amazing stories we have and hopefully get a bunch of them to sign up. We will try that in India and we will see how that goes,” Netflix COO and chief products officer Greg Peters said in an earnings call after q3 results.
It is not easy to make a strong subscription base in India for Netflix. The competition is here not only with two-three services like Amazon Prime Video, Disney+Hotstar but with a number of homegrown services like SonyLIV, ZEE5, MX Player. Most of them offer their premium content at a much lower rate compared to Netflix. The service also started a mobile-only plan at Rs 199 last year to beat the odds which worked well for it.
“We're constantly assessing and testing and trying to understand what's working, what's working best, how do we improve. And we do that with our marketing and promotion tactics as well. One of the most effective ways to introduce Netflix to people in different countries around the world, and based on that testing and that actual performance, we've shifted those tactics, as you note, in many, many countries, including the United States. But we also seek to innovate and come up with what are new ways that we can use to introduce Netflix to new members,” Peters also added.
In a letter to shareholders, the service also acknowledged that it has much work to do in India to replicate the success in other APAC countries Japan and South Korea. Considerably, APAC has contributed mostly to the q3 growth of Netflix.
iWorld
Samay Raina returns with Still Alive, confronts 2025 controversy in bold comeback special
Comeback set tackles controversy, blending humour with raw storytelling
MUMBAI: Samay Raina is set to release his new stand-up comedy special, Still Alive, on YouTube on April 7, 2026, marking a high-profile return following a turbulent year.
The trailer for the special dropped on April 5, offering a glimpse into what Raina describes as a raw and unfiltered set that leans as much on honesty as it does on humour.
Positioned as a comeback of sorts, Still Alive draws heavily from the controversy surrounding his show India’s Got Latent in early 2025. The episode led to legal trouble, multiple FIRs, and a lengthy six-hour interrogation by the Maharashtra Cyber Cell, placing the comedian at the centre of intense public scrutiny.
Rather than sidestep the episode, Raina leans into it. The special reflects on the fallout and his personal journey through it, blending observational comedy with moments of emotional candour. Early audience feedback from live performances suggests the tone is less about rapid-fire punchlines and more about storytelling with bite.
The special was filmed during his global Still Alive & Unfiltered tour, which ran from August 2025 to early 2026. The tour saw Raina perform across major international venues, including the Madison Square Garden Theatre in New York, a milestone that places him among the youngest Indian comedians to take that stage.
The title itself signals resilience. “Still Alive” is a nod to navigating both legal and public backlash while choosing to remain unapologetically authentic, a theme that appears to anchor the set.
With the special set to premiere online, all eyes are now on how audiences respond to a performance that promises equal parts reflection and wit. For Raina, the message is clear. He is not just back, he is ready to be heard on his own terms.
