iWorld
TyC Sports hops on to YuppTV’s OTT platform
NEW DELHI: Argentina based TyC Sports has signed with YuppTV for the new over the top (OTT) TV service targeting Argentines living outside the country.
Whether it is World Cup, UEFA Champions, EPL, La Liga or even MLS the long “o” vowel sound of “Goal” is the signature of soccer, football or fútbol no matter all over the world. “We knew we had to have TyC Sports on our platform to make this a truly nostalgic offering that would bring the entire family around the TV to watch their favourite teams from Argentina, whether it is Boca, River, Colón or Godoy Cruz,” said YuppTV SVP and general manager for the Americas Damon Johnson.
“We are thrilled to be a part of YuppTV platform. We are hoping to reach more Argentines wherever they are located in the Americas and offer the best sports programming ‘live’ and ‘Catch-up’ through the YuppTV app,” said TyC Sports affiliate sales and new business manager Hernán Chiofalo.
YuppTV Argentina continues their development of a platform that allows users to watch content from their home country via their smart TV, streaming media player, game console, Blu-ray player, laptop, smart phone or tablet.
“We are focused on choice and convenience for our customers. We want our customers to be able to watch live and ‘catch-up’ TV on their TV and not only via a PC. We don’t want our customers to sign contracts and we don’t want our customers waiting for the cable guy or figuring out where to hang a satellite dish. We won’t subject our customers to credit checks and since we are legitimate providers we don’t subject our customers to the viruses that come from those pirated websites. Instead, we want our customers to watch their channels from Argentina from the screen they prefer and watch it live or via our 10 days of recorded ‘catch-up’ TV,” said Johnson.
When asked about other channels, Johnson said, “We will announce the other channels soon. TyC Sports is an anchor channel and we wanted to announce them first and give them the exposure they deserve. Our goal is to bring authentic and native Argentine channels to the platform.”
Speaking on when the service would be available to customers Johnson added, “We are really eager to roll this out as soon as possible. We are about to complete our beta test, which has allowed us to perfect some of the details that makes this a high quality network offering. We hope to announce that date in the very near future.”
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.
