iWorld
Viacom18 to be the new home of ultimate sports quiz
Mumbai: Viacom18 has announced exclusive media rights to Ultimate Sports Quiz, a national inter-school sports quiz show. The exciting competition will see renowned commentator Harsha Bhogle in his much-loved avatar of a quizmaster. The 19-episode season will drop on JioCinema and the Sports18 network from 29 November to 17 December.
The acquisition of Ultimate Sports Quiz reiterates Viacom18’s commitment to build on the growing preference of viewers to consume sports content on digital. The show will enhance engagement, extend viewership and build a community among sports fans. The 2023 edition of Ultimate Sports Quiz has seen participation from more than 1,200 schools spanning 350 cities across India.
The Finalists will win prizes collectively worth Rs 1 Cr., part of which would be a cash prize specifically to improve the sporting infrastructure at their schools. The Winners will get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch a Live sporting event of their choice anywhere in the world.
“Through the Ultimate Sports Quiz, we are offering our viewers a winning combination of education, entertainment, and engagement. Coupled with Harsha’s affable personality and inimitable knack of sports storytelling, it makes an exceptional package overall for viewers,” said a Viacom18 spokesperson. “Presenting this contest first on JioCinema is our conscious, long-term effort to build on consumers’ preference of watching sports content on digital.”
“We are delighted to bring to the audience the Ultimate Sports Quiz for a second year in a row. This property is very close to our hearts as it rekindles memories of watching quizzes in the ‘90s, said Ultimate Sports Quiz founder & CEO Pratik Gosar. “It gives me immense pride to have India’s leading sports broadcaster, Viacom18 onboard as partners on this journey. Their expertise in broadcasting and reach will definitely take USQ to greater heights and inspire kids to learn more about sports. We acknowledge the growing preference of viewers to consume content on digital and totally believe in the idea of going digital-first with USQ.”
“The journey of hosting Ultimate Sports Quiz 2023 was incredible. It was joyful and enlightening to witness the enthusiasm and extensive knowledge of sports among the bright minds of the country. It took me back to my own days of participating in quizzes and later hosting them,” said Bhogle. “There’s something beautiful about the spirit of curiosity and the quest for knowledge, and to see it so robustly alive in these youngsters gives me great hope for the future of sports in our country.”
Watch Ultimate Sports Quiz daily from 29 November 2023, on JioCinema and the Sports18 network.
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.
