iWorld
Verizon Digital Media partners with Airtel for POPs
MUMBAI: Verizon Digital Media Services, the next-generation digital media platform, and Bharti Airtel Limited (“Airtel”), India’s largest telecommunications services provider, have partnered to launch new points of presence (PoPs) in four cities in India: Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and New Delhi.
The four PoP installations mark Verizon Digital Media Services’ significant investment into expanding throughout the country, leveraging Airtel’s digital infrastructure as a gateway to India. This partnership will ensure that content on the Verizon Digital Media Services platform can be accessed by digital media consumers in a fast, seamless and reliable way and will improve the experience for users in India.
“We are expanding our content delivery network in strategic markets that our customers care about, and we have found a long-term partner in Airtel Business,” said Verizon Digital Media Services Chief Technology Officer Rob Peters. “The launch of these strategic PoPs marks the beginning of a strong partnership between Verizon and Airtel Business and further cements our commitment to providing consumers in India, one of the fastest-growing markets for digital media consumption, with exceptional services and quality.”
In addition to Airtel’s world-class data center services and unparalleled network across the country, this move enables Verizon Digital Media Services to provide superior digital media experiences to millions of internet users in India.
The newly installed PoPs have already yielded exceptional outcomes. Using third-party Cedexis measurement tools, Verizon Digital Media Services has observed significant network improvements when comparing its network performance in India before and after the PoP installations. The amount of time required on Verizon Digital Media Services’ servers to receive users’ requests, respond and deliver results has significantly decreased.
“India is fast emerging as a large regional IP Hub and we are excited to enable Verizon Digital Media Services to provide best-in-class digital services in India. This collaboration ensures superior user experiences and seamlessly handles traffic spikes as connected devices, subscribers and content size continue to grow. We are delighted by the positive results seen in a very short time and we are confident that in the long term, Indian mobile Internet users are going to immensely benefit from this partnership,” said Bharti Airtel director & CEO-global voice & data business Ajay Chitkara.
Airtel has a presence that spans 18 countries, including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and 15 countries in Africa. It offers both B2C and B2B telecom services, including wireless and fixed line technology, national and international long-distance connectivity, Digital TV and IPTV services, and complete integrated telecom solutions to enterprise customers. Airtel’s global network runs across 225,000 Rkms, covering 50 countries and five continents.
Verizon Digital Media Services has points of presence in North America, South America, Europe, Australia and Asia. More than 3,000 interconnections help to ensure that content is delivered reliably and securely — anytime, anywhere, on any device.
The company’s exclusive end-to-end platform also provides a variety of solutions, including the Video Lifecycle Solution, the Web Acceleration Solution and the Commerce Acceleration Solution, for broadcast, enterprise and commerce businesses, respectively.
Some of the clients which are using Verizon Digital Media’s services include: ABC, SoundCloud, Hearst Television, tumblr, twitter, Pintrest,among many others.
iWorld
Banijay Asia’s The 50 tops OTT charts with 8.1 million JioHotstar views
Reality competition becomes most watched show on JioHotstar in debut week.
MUMBAI: Fifty contestants walked into a palace, but millions of viewers showed up for the drama. Reality competition The 50, produced by Banijay Asia, has emerged as the most watched show on JioHotstar, clocking 8.1 million views in its debut week. The figure, reported by Ormax Media, places the show at the top of the OTT viewership charts and marks a strong opening for the digital reality format.
Adapted from a popular French format, The 50 brings together 50 personalities from television, digital platforms, music and reality shows inside a grand palace setting. Over the course of a 50 day competition, participants form alliances, compete in unpredictable tasks and navigate eliminations as the field steadily narrows.
Guiding the game is a mysterious figure known as The Lion, an unseen game master whose voice introduces twists, challenges and strategic turns throughout the show, adding an extra layer of suspense to the contest.
What distinguishes The 50 from typical reality competitions is its audience driven prize structure. Instead of the winner taking home the final reward, the prize is awarded to one of the winner’s registered followers through the show’s dedicated app. The mechanism effectively turns viewers into participants, allowing fans to have a direct stake in the outcome.
The contestant lineup features a mix of television actors, reality stars and digital creators, including Karan Patel, Urvashi Dholakia, Divya Agarwal, Mr Faisu and Dushyant Kukreja, each bringing their own fan following to the show.
With its blend of celebrity personalities, strategic gameplay and interactive viewer participation, The 50 has quickly carved out a strong foothold in India’s digital entertainment landscape. Its 8.1 million views in the opening week underline the growing appetite for large scale reality formats designed specifically for OTT audiences.
