iWorld
ZEE5 becomes the most popular OTT app on Android Play and App Store
Mumbai: According to the latest app ratings on the Android Play and iOS App Stores, ZEE5 has scored the highest rank. The platform’s current rating is 4.5/5 on the Android Play Store and 4.8/5 on the iOS App Store.
In order to address the needs of the new-age consumer seamlessly across connected devices, the ZEE Tech & Innovation Center in Bengaluru built a strong cohort of design, technology, data, and talent. This has made it easier for the team to respond to and use user feedback, leading to significant product-led innovations and a better user experience. A thorough investigation, data analytics, and the brand’s concerted and focused efforts have resulted in numerous technological innovations that dramatically improve the app experience.
Talking about the product experience and the business strategy, ZEE5 India Manish Kalra chief business officer said, “Being a consumer-first brand from the very outset, we have focussed on building a platform that offers a holistic experience to our audiences. Our strategy has been to invest in improving the platform’s user experience across devices and ensure that high quality content is showcased with best in class viewing experience. The increase in app rating is a significant validation from our consumers and encourages us to continue to provide great quality content with equally good viewing experience across demographics. We will continue to invest in becoming the most preferred OTT platform on the back of innovation, research and analytics with one simple objective of delighting our viewers.”
ZEE5’s increased content viewing experience was primarily driven by improvements to the video player, 4K video quality, Dolby Atmos, and Dolby Digital Plus audio support in the app. Adding to this, the personalisation of search results and its fundamental recommendation engine are the cornerstone initiatives taken by ZEE5 to achieve this milestone.
Simultaneously, the platform also revamped the entire connected TV app’s interface and worked towards reducing the app’s size by 10 per cent. The app launch time also improved by 25 per cent and reflected in the mobile app rating.
The team simultaneously made fundamental modifications to video player technology, tracked and improved key video player performance indicators, and offered consumers fluid playback and simple video player controls.
Along with improving the app’s content security, they also made it simpler for customers to intuitively solve their own problems with the customer service chatbot flow.
Addressing the success, ZEE5 chief technology officer Kishore AK said, “The vision for us at ZEE5 has been to identify and then overcome the roadblocks for a better user interface while building a product that can be seamlessly integrated across devices. We rely on research and customer feedback to design the strategy for efficiently catering to the larger and more diverse audience base. We are happy to see the results of our efforts as we continue to develop and make investments to enhance the user experience on ZEE5.”
“About a year ago, when we came together to set up the Technology and Innovation Centre in Bangalore, we went back to the drawing board and decided to reinforce the consumer experience as the core proposition of ZEE5, our flagship digital platform. Empowering cross-functional teams to identify and solve consumer problems allowed us to make rapid improvements on many fronts at the same time,” said Zee Entertainment chief product and innovation officer Bhushan Kolleri.
Currently the fastest-growing OTT platform in India as per the latest industry reports, ZEE5 is known for its diversified content across 100+ taste clusters and its focus on real, relevant, and resonant storytelling. Today, ZEE5 offers over five lakh hours of on-demand content as well as 160+ live TV channels. With a rich library of over 3,500 films, 1,750 TV shows, and 700 originals, ZEE5 offers content in 12 Indian languages: English, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, and Punjabi. The platform has an exciting line-up for 2022 that will add to its extensive library of content, offering a wider array of catalogue to entertainment seekers. Additionally, the products, data, and technology based in Bangalore at the ZEE Technology and Innovation Center have an exciting line-up for further product enhancements aimed to delight its consumers and further consolidate its leadership.
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.
