iWorld
Why free TV channels are making a comeback on your smart TV
New Delhi: If choice paralysis were a sport, Indians scrolling endlessly on OTT menus would win gold. RunnTV thinks it has the cure.
At the 5th Indian Digital Brand Fest, a session on the rise of Fast and connected TV in brand marketing featured RunnTV founder and CEO Manish Sinha in conversation with Anil Wanvari, founder & editor-in-chief of the Indiantelevision.com Group, where they explained why free streaming is regaining traction in India.
Sinha is betting Indians want their TV channels back. Not cable subscriptions, but free streaming channels that work like the old days: switch on, flip through, start watching.
“When you have 30 minutes on OTT, users spend 6 to 12 minutes just searching,” Sinha told Wanvari. “With Fast (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV), you’re consuming content in 28 of those 30 minutes.”
When Wanvari asked about advertising innovations, Sinha highlighted Fast’s unique advantage: “Traditional TV relies on sample metres in about a lakh households. CTV can be targeted and measurable.” CPMs range from 100 to 250 rupees for connected TVs.
The platform’s clever insight: switching channels takes exactly two clicks. “If users aren’t switching during ad breaks, they’re actually watching the ads,” Sinha explained.
Wanvari raised a practical concern: isn’t downloading another app cumbersome? Sinha countered that RunnTV aggregates multiple channels in one place. During Operation Sindoor, downloads surged as viewers flipped between Nav Bharat, ABP News, India TV and TV9 in a single app.
On customer acquisition costs, Sinha acknowledged initial challenges but noted strong organic growth. The platform now reaches 10 million monthly active users through its own app and partners including Xiaomi TV Plus and LG.
Wanvari questioned whether OEMs pushing their own Fast platforms posed competition. Sinha saw opportunity instead, “Mobile is still 70% of video consumption. OEMs aren’t targeting that.” Unlike manufacturer platforms restricted to specific devices, RunnTV works everywhere.
Wanvari pressed on language barriers. Sinha explained personalisation solves this: Gen Z users see apps built for Gen Z, millennials see content for millennials.
His ten-year vision? “To be the Tata Play of digital television.” Wanvari captured it perfectly: “You’re going to be the next CTV pioneer of India.”
With global players eyeing India and Fast adoption rising, the Runn TV founder believes the free-TV wave is only beginning to swell.
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.
