iWorld
Online video surpasses 1 billion subscriber mark globally
KOLKATA: For the first time ever, online video services have surpassed the one billion subscriber mark globally. In the pandemic hit year 2020, the overall subscriber base has reached 1.1 billion, recording a 26 per cent year-on-year growth, according to a report from Motion Picture Association.
The global home/mobile entertainment market has raked in $68.8 billion in revenue, marking a 23 per cent increase over 2019. In the United States, subscriptions have crossed 308.6 million, representing a 32 per cent growth from 2019, and the home/mobile market increased 21 per cent, reaching $30 billion.
While the global market for theatrical and home/mobile entertainment distribution fell 18 per cent to $80.8 billion, the surge in the digital entertainment market has helped partially offset the decrease in the global box office caused by theatre closures during the pandemic.
“Despite the challenges to the global economy brought on by the Covid2019 pandemic, the film television, and streaming industry has once again risen to the occasion,” said Motion Picture Association chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin.
“Streaming experienced another huge boom, with new entrants into the market and more than one billion subscriptions worldwide for the first time ever. We kept audiences connected and entertained wherever they were and whenever they desired. Theatrical and home entertainment remain two essential parts of this dynamic and iconic industry, and I am confident that movie theatres will experience a great comeback in the months ahead,” he added.
However, cable TV revenue is still larger than the online video market. Cable revenues for global industry stood at $116 billion.
55 per cent of US adults reported that their viewing of movies or shows/series through an online subscription service increased, while 46 per cent reported that their viewing via pay TV increased. More than 85 per cent of children and over 55 per cent of adults watch movies or shows/series on mobile devices.
Daily viewers of movies or shows/series on mobile devices skew more heavily towards the 18-24 and 25-39 year-old age groups, as well as the Hispanic/Latino and African-American/Black ethnicity groups.
The global box office market for all films around the world was $12 billion in 2020; Within that number, the US/Canada box office market was $2.2 billion. The top three box office markets outside the US and Canada were China ($3 billion), Japan ($1.3 billion ), and France ($500 million ).
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.
