iWorld
Netflix’s efforts to bolster already impressive content library
MUMBAI: Netflix is here to stay and is extensively working on expanding its portfolio for its viewers. It had recently added Stories By Rabindranath Tagore to its catalogue. The global OTT player has also attached Marco Polo season 2 which will be available from July 1. The show is an epic adventure and extraordinary relationship between Polo and Kublai Khan with the Song Empire in ruin and the Yuan dynasty on the rise.
The 10 episode second season includes new and returning cast – namely Lorenzo Richelmy (Marco Polo), Michelle Yeoh (the Handmaiden), Benedict Wong (Kublai Khan), Joan Chen (Empress Chabi), Zhu Zhu (Kokachin), Tom Wu (Hundred Eyes), Olivia Cheng (Mei Lin), Claudia Kim (Khutulun), Rick Yune (Kaidu), Remy Hii (Prince Jingim), Mahesh Jadu (Ahmad) and Uli Latukefu (Byamba), among others.
It has also acquired global rights to Charlie McDowell’s The Discovery, starring Rooney Mara, Robert Redford and Jason Segel. The film will premiere on Netflix and also get a theatrical domestic run in 2017. Directed by Charlie McDowell and written by McDowell and Justin Lader, The Discovery is a sci-fi story set two years after the discovery of an afterlife that has been scientifically proven where millions of people have taken their own lives in order to start over. Segel plays the son of the man (Redford) responsible for the discovery, and Mara plays a woman he falls in love with whose life is tinged by a tragic past.
Netflix will also air Narcos season 2 from 2 September at 12:01 PST. Brazilian actor Wagner Moura, who plays Pablo Escobar in Netflix’s highly acclaimed drama Narcos, dishes on what’s in store for his character in the next season.
Watch the full episode of Chelsea here:
The latest acquisition by the streaming video service adds to the ranks of its comedy offerings with a feature directed by and starring Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Goldbergs actor Jeff Garlin titled Handsome. The film is described as a mystery with comedy element.
Netflix has also announced acquiring select international rights to The Office spinoff movie David Brent: Life On The Road for premiere in 2017. The deal excludes the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, where it will receive a theatrical release by Entertainment One in August. The cast includes Ben Bailey Smith as Dom and writer-comedian Tom Basden as Dan and also stars Kevin Bishop, Roisin Conaty, Diane Morgan, Ashley McGuire, Alexander Arnold and Mandeep Dhillon. The feature-length film sees a documentary crew catching up with Brent 12 years on from the BBC2 documentary The Office. He is now a travelling salesman, chasing his dream of rock stardom by self-financing a UK tour with his band Foregone Conclusion.
Marvel fans can also catch Agents of SHIELD season 3 which is now available to stream on Netflix as of June 16. The show has just finished its season on ABC in May and has signed deal with Netflix to bring some new seasons of ABC shows to the streaming service 30 days after the season finale airs. With this, all three seasons of the series are available to stream on the platform.
Agents of SHIELD is based on the characters and stories from the Marvel comics and is created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen. It stars Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, Nick Blood, Adrianne Palicki, Henry Simmons, and Luke Mitchell.
The series follows SHIELD, the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, and its agents as they try to save the world from enemies, like HYDRA and people with superpowers.
Here is the trailer for the third season of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD –
Netflix is looking to provide a broad range of movies and TV shows for its members and says that it will always look for differing types of content catering to the tastes of over 81 million members around the world.
For a one monthly subscription price, members have access to all titles on Netflix in the country. Netflix plans are offered in three tiers: basic, standard and premium and all packages offer access to every title available on Netflix in the territory with no limit to how much one can watch.
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.
