iWorld
News9live.com promote liver health and raises awareness with special campaign
Mumbai: Taking cognizance of the millions of people in India who suffer from liver-related diseases, and the relatively large number of early cases that go undiagnosed, News9Live.com took a proactive step to spread awareness on the subject. A holistic Liver Day Campaign by the English news website of TV9 Network, India’s largest news network, was launched on the 19th of April 2024, with the tagline, “Be Vigilant, Get Regular Liver Check-Ups, and Prevent Fatty Liver Diseases”.
The liver, being the second largest and one of the most vital organs in the human body, helps eliminate toxins and regulate metabolism. Liver diseases are becoming increasingly common the world over, but the issue is especially prevalent in India. Reports have shown that over one-third of Indians suffer from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, often remaining unrecognised. In 2015, India alone contributed to nearly one in every five liver disease-related deaths, making it a phenomenon of epidemic proportions.
The Liver Day Campaign by News9Live.com was focused on educating the public on the lesser-known facts of this epidemic, and the lifestyle changes needed to boost liver health. Through interviews with experts, articles, explainer videos, and interactive resources, News9Live.com has set out on a mission to equip readers across the nation with the knowledge necessary for maintaining a healthy liver.
News9Live.com editor Ajith Kumar emphasised the importance of proactive initiatives like the Liver Day Campaign, stating, “At News9Live.com, we understand the urgency surrounding liver health concerns and the pivotal role awareness plays in prevention. As the English website of India’s largest news network, it is our responsibility to educate people about this, and to do our bit in fostering better lifestyles for our readers”.
World Liver Day 2024 special coverage on News9Live included topics such as:
· 8 ways to cleanse your liver
· An interview with Dr Rajiv Lochan J of Manipal Hospital on the spike in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease among India’s youth
· Experts’ advice on immunology and liver transplantation
· 9 factors that cause non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases
· The most common signs of liver damage
· The top 8 foods for a healthy liver
· The emergence of tobacco as a threat to Gen Z liver health
· The 10 warning signs of a damaged liver
iWorld
JioHotstar’s Tadka explained: India’s big new bet on bite-sized drama
The streaming giant goes short with vertical micro-dramas timed to ride the IPL’s massive reach
MUMBAI: India’s biggest streaming platform has a new trick up its sleeve. JioHotstar has launched Tadka, a vertical micro-content offering that serves up episodic dramas in 60-second to two-minute bursts, built not for the binge-watcher sprawled on the sofa but for the thumb-scroller on the bus. The name, borrowed from the Hindi culinary term for a flavour-charged tempering of spices, signals intent: quick, punchy, unmissable. And the timing is no accident. Tadka’s launch coincides with the Indian Premier League, one of JioHotstar’s biggest audience moments of the year, giving the new format an instant audience of tens of millions.
What exactly is Tadka?
At its core, Tadka is JioHotstar’s answer to the global micro-drama boom, a format that has quietly become a multi-billion-dollar category in China and is fast gaining ground elsewhere. Content is shot vertically, native to the mobile screen, and runs in episodes of 60 seconds to two minutes. Crucially, nothing is edited down from longer cuts: every story is conceived and produced specifically for the short form.
The genres span romance, drama, thriller, comedy and youth-oriented stories, all anchored in contemporary Indian life. Titles already in the library include Mitti Ka Sher, Section F Ka Only Boy, Undercover Boss: Scam Smash and Punch Dialogue Prince Ki Oka Chinna Love Story. Content is available in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, with more languages to follow.
At launch, the platform has more than 100 original titles on offer. By year-end, JioHotstar plans to have 1,000-plus titles in the catalogue.
Production beyond Mumbai
One of the more striking aspects of Tadka is where it is being made. JioHotstar is deliberately breaking with the Mumbai-centric logic of Indian entertainment, shifting shoots to smaller cities. Game Over Gold Digger and Billionaires vs. Middle Class Mom were shot in Indore; Mitti Ka Sher and Startup Junoon: Rinki Bani Bazigar in Lucknow.
The platform has partnered with more than 50 production houses, ranging from established players such as M5 Entertainment, Salt Media and Tamasha Studios to digital-native outfits such as Incnut, Fourth Wall and Kaijuhouse Productions, many of them new to the long-form ecosystem altogether. The content and production team was built entirely from scratch, drawing talent deliberately from outside the traditional long-form world. Television production veterans, it turns out, are rather well suited to the high-volume, fast-turnaround demands of micro-content.
How the money might flow
Monetisation is still early-stage, but the roadmap is taking shape. Advertising is the primary near-term opportunity: several brands have already approached JioHotstar about integrated content formats, and ad revenues are expected to scale with viewership. Further down the road, the platform may explore subscription packs and coin-based unlock models, a path already well-trodden in global micro-drama markets, where 65 to 70 per cent of revenue has shifted over time from pay-per-episode unlocks to recurring subscriptions.
Fully AI-generated content, story and visuals alike, is also in the pipeline for specific genres, including animated and fantastical formats.
Partners are enthusiastic
Those building content for the platform are bullish. Firdaus, owner and partner at Salt Media, says Tadka “lowers traditional barriers, allowing storytellers across sizes to participate without being constrained by large budgets or legacy structures.” Sonya V. Kapoor, owner and partner at M5 Entertainment, calls micro-content “where the next generation of IP is going to be built and tested.” Anish Surana, founder of Ananta Productions, says Tadka is “formalising micro-content as a serious entertainment category within the mainstream ecosystem.”
Jehangir Irroni, assistant vice president of video divisions at Incnut Digital, puts it bluntly: “When a platform at JioHotstar’s scale backs a format, it has the ability to expand the category itself.”
The bigger picture
Within days of its launch, Tadka has already pulled in a share of JioHotstar’s active user base that, the company claims, is comparable in size to the entire user base of several standalone short-form or regional OTT platforms. That is a remarkable early signal, though, as with any new format, the harder test is whether that initial curiosity converts to habit.
If it does, Tadka could do for Indian micro-drama what JioHotstar’s backing of the IPL did for streaming sports: drag a format from the fringes firmly into the mainstream. The spice, as always, is in the timing.
