iWorld
Reliance Jio Media on track for Phase 1 of cable TV rollout between Jan – Mar 2016
MUMBAI: Reliance Jio Media, which acquired a pan-India multi system operator (MSO) licence from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) in June this year, is on track for the roll out of its cable television business across digital addressable system (DAS) in Phase 3 areas.
Calling a recent report published as “misleading,” which stated that the company is going to focus more on 4G and broadband, as compared to digital television and distribution, a senior Reliance Jio official tells Indiantelevision.com, “MSO business is an integral part of our services and we are as focussed on it as we were from the very beginning.”
Reliance Jio Media has already shortlisted the cities for the first round of MSO rollout. “We will start with 15 cities initially and eventually will reach out to more than 100 cities over the next three years. The first round of launch will take place anytime between January to March 2016,” the official informs.
The MSO will offer both standard definiion (SD) and high definition (HD – incluing Ultra HD) services to garner high average revenue per user (ARPU). “We will follow a model, which is sustainable in the long run. Having all the viewing experiences for consumers is an important factor and we won’t compromise with that,” added the official.
“Headends, technological partnerships and other infrastructure deals have already been sealed with a few vendors and we will have everything sorted out before 31 December. We are in conversation with several LCOs for both broadband and cable partnerships. Post Diwali we will have the final round of discussion with LCOs for digital cable business,” said the official.
Reliance Jio CEO K Jayaraman leads the company’s MSO business.
A source from the industry opined, “The team that they’ve got in place has the muscle power to deal with any situation. I don’t think there is any lacklustre attitude towards the MSO business from the conglomerate.”
Another senior official from a technological giant, on condition of anonymity said, “We have been working closely with Reliance Jio creating different products for them. We are actively pursuing our partnerships and have no information of a slow down or postponement of launch of distribution of cable TV.”
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.
