iWorld
NetRange announces strategic partnership with Vidio
Mumbai: NetRange MMH GmbH (‘NetRange’ an ACCESS company), the global provider of white-labelled, turnkey Smart TV and OTT ecosystems, has announced a new strategic partnership with Vidio. This agreement will extend the reach of Vidio’s premium video-on-demand service in Indonesia through inclusion in the NetRange Smart TV App Store ecosystem.
“The combination of ‘must watch’ Indonesian content like our massive hit ‘Married with Senior’ alongside global hits such as the English Premier League and Hollywood blockbusters has put Vidio in pole position in the race for streaming audiences in Southeast Asia’s largest video market,” said Vidio chief product officer Hadikusuma Wahab. “Expanding our reach through the partnership with NetRange enables us to capitalise on this success, bringing great content to even more people direct to the biggest screen in the home.”
Vidio is the region’s leading OTT streaming platform, with over 60 million active users and a strong focus on local content and innovation. Owned by PT Elang Mahkota Teknologi Tbk, the service boasts a range of content, free-to-air and subscription channels, live streaming, films and dramas, and television and has been downloaded more than five million downloads through the App Store and Play Store. Alongside premium regional content, Vidio offers high-quality international movies from leading Indian production houses such as Eros Now, which are highly popular in Indonesia, and Hollywood blockbusters such as Fast and the Furious, Jumanji, and John Wick. It also offers live sports coverage, including major international events such as the UEFA Champions League and the English Premier League.
NetRange Smart TV Portals and App Stores provide the most straightforward route for content creators, TV manufacturers, media, and entertainment distributors to ride the connected and Smart TV wave. NetRange provides portal and ecosystem solutions to CE device manufacturers, infrastructure providers (satellite, cable, and telecommunications), OEMs/ODMs, retailers, and content brands. NetRange always looks to expand its worldwide content portfolio with high value local providers, especially in emerging markets. The portal is continuously developed and enhanced to help its device and content partners deliver to consumers. NetRange portals and ecosystems can be operated as global solutions or designed for specific countries, to drive a key business strategy of providing content to an often-underserved region: this combination of global content with leading local content is a key focus for NetRange’s Smart TV portfolio.
“NetRange is delighted to embark on this journey with Vidio as part of our drive to bring high-quality content and innovative consumer experiences to consumers via smart TVs in the booming Indonesian video market,” said ACCESS CO., LTD. CTO Michi Uemetsu. “Inclusion in NetRange’s Smart TV Apps enables Vidio content to be enjoyed by even more of the region’s consumers.”
iWorld
Snapchat parent Snap cuts 16 per cent of workforce in AI-driven restructuring
The Snapchat parent is axing around 1,000 jobs and closing 300 open roles to save $500m, as artificial intelligence makes smaller teams the new normal
CALIFORNIA: Snap is snapping. The Snapchat parent has confirmed plans to cut around 1,000 employees, roughly 16 per cent of its full-time workforce, as it bets that artificial intelligence can do what headcount once required. Shares jumped more than 10 per cent in premarket trading on the news, a brisk vote of confidence from a market that has watched the stock shed about 31 per cent this year.
The restructuring, which also closes more than 300 open roles, follows pressure from activist investor Irenic Capital Management, which holds an economic interest of about 2.5 per cent in the company and has been loudly pushing Snap to tighten its portfolio and lift performance. The firm got what it asked for, and then some.
Chief executive Evan Spiegel told employees the cuts would reduce annualised expenses by more than $500m by the second half of the year. The company expects to incur charges of between $95m and $130m related to the layoffs, mostly severance, with the bulk landing in the second quarter. Staff in Snap’s North America team were asked to work from home on the day of the announcement.
The financial backdrop is not without bright spots. Snap expects first-quarter revenue to rise around 12 per cent to approximately $1.53 billion, broadly in line with analyst estimates. Adjusted core profit for the January to March quarter is forecast at about $233m, comfortably ahead of Wall Street’s expectation of $186.8m.
The harder question surrounds Specs, Snap’s augmented reality smart glasses subsidiary, which Irenic has urged the company to spin off or shut down entirely. The unit has absorbed more than $3.5 billion in investment and burns through approximately $500m in cash annually. Snap is pressing ahead regardless, with a consumer product expected later this year, even as Meta leads the market in the segment.
Spiegel is betting that leaner teams, smarter machines and a consumer AR play can restore Snap’s credibility with investors who have run out of patience. The redundancy notices have gone out. The harder restructuring, the one that requires a hit product rather than a headcount reduction, is still very much pending.
