iWorld
YOU On Demand ink VoD deal with Twentieth Century Fox in China
MUMBAI: YOU On Demand Holdings, a Video On Demand (VOD) service provider in China delivering Hollywood movies and premium content to mobile and TV screens, has entered into a licensing agreement with Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution for the SVOD rights in China to a broad selection of library feature films.
The titles will be available to subscribers of YOU On Demand’s Subscription VOD (SVOD) platform and service, via mobile, Over-the-Top (OTT), digital cable and IPTV.
Some of the movies that will be available to YOU On Demand customers include recent worldwide box office hits and award winners such as: A-Team starring Bradley Cooper and Liam Neeson; Black Swan starring Academy Award winner, Natalie Portman; 10-time Academy Award nominated film, Master and Commander, starring Russell Crowe; Speed, starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves; Unstoppable, starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine.
“Twentieth Century Fox’s award-winning and blockbuster films demonstrate YOU On Demand’s continued commitment to deliver the best premium content to our customers. We are excited to be working with them in China as we bring their diverse library to all YOU On Demand platforms,” said YOU On Demand chairman Shane McMahon.
Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution executive vice president of worldwide pay TV & SVOD Gina Brogi added, “We are very pleased that this agreement with YOU On Demand will see many of our high quality feature films become accessible to viewers in China via the company’s breakthrough SVOD service.”
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.
