iWorld
Pressure continues to mount for Disney + Hotstar, says Elara Capital’s Karan Taurani
Mumbai: Elara Capital senior vice president – research analyst Karan Taurani mentions that Disney Hotstar loses 15-16 per cent of the India paid subs base over last two quarters (Q4CY22 and Q1CY23); expect this to bottom out next quarter as IPL season ends, which see subs loss of another 10 -12 per cent (base of 61mn – 90 per cent India subs) next quarter (Q2CY23), which in turn will mean a total paid subscriber loss of 25-30 per cent largely in line with our estimates of 30-35 per cent subs loss.
He explains, “Further, ARPU’s may also see convergence, as IPL remains the most expensive, which Hotstar lost to Jio Cinema in the new media rights bidding last year.
Expect a potential negative impact of 50 per cent on overall revenue in CY23 for Hotstar , as IPL had a large share in the AVoD revenue base (approx. 60-65 per cent)and also had a sizeable share in the SVOD revenues (approx 40 per cent).
Hotstar may be able to make up for the above loss of subscribers over the medium to long term, by investing heavily in original content (films and web series across languages); further, Hotstar also has a very strong catch-up TV content catalogue, as they are leaders on linear TV front in key markets (urban GEC, regional GEC genres).”
Taurani further adds, “However, investment in original content is a long gestation strategy, as content has to click with the audience, and platform will need to invest in content marketing
We thereby don’t expect a respite for Hotstar’s Indian ARPU (at USD 0.59 per month now), due to the loss of major content properties; in fact there is a high probability of reduction in ARPU due to the loss of IPL and Jio Cinema giving IPL and other premium content (films, movies) free.”
“We expect net loss to remain for the platform, despite IPL moving away, as the negative impact of loss in revenue will not be able to offset the cost (IPL had turned profitable in fourth year – 2021) (the platform reported net loss of Rs 3.5bn in FY22); the platform (Disney Hotstar) will lose substantial market share in India’s OTT market (down from 17 per cent earlier towards 8-9 per cent in CY23 – post IPL content moving away),” he tells.
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.
