iWorld
Viu partners Morris Street to launch Hollywood Squares India adaptation
MUMBAI: Viu has collaborated with Morris Street Advisors to bring successful global format Hollywood Squares to India. Morris Street Advisors has acquired the format rights to Hollywood Squares from CBS Studios International for India. This collaboration will present the Indian version, titled Tollywood Squares, of the multiple Emmy-award-winning and internationally successful CBS show format for the Telugu audience. Viu has joined hands with Star Maa and GroupM’s Motion Content Group to deliver the content cross-platform as the show will be available on a digital platform and a television channel simultaneously.
The 26-episode weekend show, created in Telugu, is set to go live on 27 January 2018 on the Viu app website and Star Maa simultaneously. One episode will release every Saturday and Sunday at 9:30pm. Hosted by television personality Navdeep Pallapolu, the series will be based on Tic-Tac-Toe, a universally popular game and will showcase nine new celebrities and two new contestants in each episode. Hollywood Squares is the first major game show format from CBS to be produced in India.
Elaborating on the show and partnership, Viu India country head Vishal Maheshwari said, “We are thrilled to bring the most sought-after celebrity game show of Hollywood Squares regionalised for our Telugu audience. Our insights gave us the belief that a format like this, which is iconic in its own right globally, would be a timely new addition to our bouquet of differentiated content. We are happy to partner with StarMaa and Motion Content group to bring this internationally recognised show format for our audiences. The content can be viewed on the digital platform and main screen television.”
Morris Street Advisors CEO Rohit Tiwari said, “This is a milestone moment for Morris Street Advisors. As an entertainment content provider, we are now placing more focus on producing popular programming that captivates Indian viewers. We are super excited to team up with CBS Studios International and our Indian partners to produce the show in India.”
The launch of Tollywood Squares is aligned to Star Maa’s promise of delivering compelling content that appeals to the masses by breaking conventional boundaries of language. This show is in line with Viu’s continued focus on original regional content since launching in 2016.
Commenting on this occasion Star Maa business head Alok Jain said, “We are pleased to now bring Hollywood Squares in India for the Telugu people. I am confident that this show will take our viewers across all age groups back to the memory lanes and the concept of this show will transform the TV viewers’ experience. We are extremely pleased to partner with Viu and together this show will entertain our viewers.”
“Hollywood Squares has had success in many countries around the world, and we’re convinced it will appeal to viewers in India,” CBS Studios International VP (international sales and production) Roxanne Lettman Pompa said.
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iWorld
X launches XChat messaging app on iOS with calls and encryption
Standalone app marks shift from “everything app” vision, adds E2E messaging.
MUMBAI: From one big app to many small chats, X seems to be splitting its ambitions. X has rolled out its standalone messaging app, XChat, to iOS users, opening up a new front in its evolving product strategy. The app allows users to connect with existing X contacts through private and group messages, file sharing, as well as audio and video calls. The launch follows a limited beta phase, where the platform tested the product with a smaller user base to refine the experience. Now available publicly, XChat marks a notable pivot from earlier ambitions championed by Elon Musk to turn X into a single “everything app” combining messaging, payments, commerce and more.
Instead, the company under xAI ownership and backed by SpaceX appears to be building a suite of standalone applications, each targeting specific use cases while expanding its broader ecosystem.
At launch, XChat includes end-to-end encrypted messaging, PIN-based access, disappearing messages, and features such as message editing, deletion for all participants, and screenshot blocking. The company has also said the app is free from advertisements and tracking mechanisms, positioning it as a privacy-first alternative in a crowded messaging space.
However, security claims around the platform are likely to face scrutiny. Earlier iterations of XChat drew criticism from experts who argued it fell short of established encrypted platforms like Signal. With the wider rollout, the app is expected to undergo fresh evaluation to assess whether those concerns have been addressed.
Beyond messaging, XChat will also house X’s Communities feature, which is being discontinued on the main platform due to low usage and spam concerns. Migrating these users could provide an early boost to adoption, effectively turning XChat into both a communication and community hub.
The move underscores a broader recalibration at X less about cramming everything into one app, and more about spreading bets across multiple touchpoints, one message at a time.
