iWorld
Quick, crisp facts sans opinion: GoNews launch live-streamed from Global Exhibition on Services
NEW DELHI: GoNews, an app-based news channel, was officially launched on Tuesday at CII’s Global Exhibition on Services. True to its adage of providing news on the go, the occasion was live-streamed to over 20,000 smartphone users who had downloaded the app, besides scores of followers on social media.
Speaking on the occasion, GoNews founder and editor-in-chief Pankaj Pachauri said that creation of the app-based news channel was done on purpose so as to disseminate basic information and hard facts to viewers having no or little access to satellite TV.
Pachauri, a former TV news journalist who had also done a stint as the former PM Manmohan Singh’s media advisor, said research and data convinced him that satellite TV news was losing its viewership as well as sheen because it had become “highly opinionated” and was increasingly becoming “hostage to advertising.”
“We must deploy emerging technologies in media and save avoidable costs by constantly focusing on innovation and R&D. Unfortunately, this is not being done enough and it is hurting the bottomlines of all the news organisations,” he said while speaking at GES 2017.
According to him, “There are more smart phones in India than TV sets now and viewers, particularly the youth, are fed up of news in the long format. They want their news without opinion or bias and they want it quickly. They hate it when the videos buffer. That is why the GoNews app is light on data size as well as data consumption. This is so because we are not force-fitting satellite content into a website and website content into an app. We are creating the content primarily for the app.”
The app also puts the choices in the hands of viewers by allowing them to select the amount of content they want to watch on different subjects. “That is why we say ‘whenever you have time, that’s `prime time’,” Pachauri quipped.
The CII’s Exhibition on Services is a three-day event in which 73 countries and nearly 600 exhibitors are participating. The exposition will continue until Thursday.
Later, Pachauri told indiantelevision.com that the reception to the app based news channel made him believe that he and his team, probably, have made the correct decision to go mobile. “There were several queries on whether we were looking for additional funding and I had to tell those people that the venture is comfortable at this point of time. But the feedback from the audience was really encouraging,” he added.
GoNews delivers personalised news to viewers on their smart phones and smart TVs at a time of their choosing. As per information made available by GoNews, news stories are citizen-centric and not consumer-centric, credible, co-creative and concise. The channel is collaborating with content generators in rural India to offer news and stories that often go unreported or are not available at other news outlets.
In addition, GoNews provides live streaming of important news events from its studio and from the field, depending on the importance of the event.
GoNews was founded and led by the veteran journalist Pachauri who has a wide experience of working with some of the top international and Indian broadcasters for over three decades. The team comprises senior journalists, drawn from the field of broadcasting, management and academia. GoNews is the first digital offering of Cloudburst Mediaworks Private Limited.
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iWorld
JioStar revenue hits Rs 9,784 crore as cricket fuels 22 per cent growth
A surge in digital viewership and sports dominance fuels a blockbuster quarter for the media giant
MUMBAI: JioStar is batting on a flat pitch. The media titan’s fourth-quarter results for the financial year 2026 reveal a business scaling new heights, propelled by an unprecedented appetite for premium sports and digital-first storytelling.
Gross revenue for the quarter soared by 22.15 per cent to Rs 9,784 crore, up from Rs 8,010 crore in the third quarter. Operationally, the momentum was equally strong; revenue from operations climbed 21 per cent to Rs 8,372 crore. These figures underscore the firm’s successful integration following the Reliance and Disney merger, creating a dominant force in the Indian market.
The annual performance has been nothing short of a spectacle. Full-year gross revenue reached a massive Rs 36,248 crore, while annual profit after tax hit Rs 3,210 crore. This rapid expansion reflects JioStar’s ability to capture and monetise the massive growth in India’s media consumption.
Cricket proved to be the ultimate growth engine. The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 and TATA IPL 2026 delivered “record-breaking viewership” across both television and digital screens. The World Cup final alone drew a global peak concurrency of 72.5 million on JioHotstar, cementing its status as the nation’s premier streaming destination. On television, JioStar maintained a commanding 34.2 per cent viewership share, reaching a staggering 810 million viewers nationwide.
The digital numbers were just as impressive. JioHotstar averaged 500 million monthly active users, driven by consistent subscriber growth and innovative AI-led content discovery tools. These advancements are ensuring that JioStar remains at the cutting edge of the global “Race for Attention.”
With a firm grip on the country’s most valuable sporting rights and a rapidly growing digital footprint, JioStar is perfectly positioned for the future. It has built the ultimate content powerhouse—one that is ready to dominate the Indian living room for years to come.
