iWorld
Vidooly ranks BloombergQuint as most popular biz news publisher on FB video
MUMBAI: Bloomberg|Quint, a business and financial news company, continues its rapid rise as the leading integrated business news platform in the country. In its June report, digital video analytics provider, Vidooly has rated Bloomberg|Quint as the ninth most popular news brand among new-age news publishers. It is the only business news brand featured in the Top 10, ahead of general news platform Firstpost and amongst other general news publishers such as Scroll and Indiatimes. The ranking is based on the number of video views clocked by brands.
As will be recalled, Bloomberg|Quint is a partnership between global financial news leader Bloomberg Media and Quintillion Media, one of India’s fastest growing digital news ventures founded by serial entrepreneur Raghav Bahl. The partnership harnesses the unrivalled resources and pedigree of Bloomberg with Quintillion Media’s deep market experience in its business and financial news platform straddling digital, broadcast and live events. Bloomberg|Quint brings together some of the most respected names in Indian financial media such as Raghav Bahl, Menaka Doshi, Sanjay Pugalia and Anil Uniyal. The brand’s philosophy focuses on balancing journalistic objectivity and hard data with deep, insightful and sharp perspective and opinion.
Bloomberg|Quint provides high-quality business news and insights to India’s decision-makers, executives and entrepreneurs. With a native, platform-first philosophy in content, Bloomberg|Quint has fast emerged as one of the most engaging business brands on digital. Bloomberg|Quint’s content spans engaging and innovative mobile-friendly formats including published articles, op-eds, live and produced video, data infographics and charts, social content, newsletters, polls and live chats, live streaming, photo essays and contests across its own and partner platforms including The Quint, Twitter, Yahoo, Facebook.
Bloomberg|Quint CEO Anil Uniyal said, “We believe that India needed a truly digital-first, credible and premium business news product and Bloomberg|Quint serves that need. Our digital product has positioned us well as we get ready to launch and scale the broadcast and events business, as part of our integrated platform.”
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.
