iWorld
Zee5 celebrates the success of its Tamil content
Mumbai : Zee5 is celebrating the success of its marquee, original Tamil content lineup, which includes titles such as ‘Vilangu’, Ayali’and ‘Paper Rocket’. Zee5 has captured the hearts of Tamil audiences all over the world, with a 54% increase in viewer base and a 63% increase in active user base in the Tamil region over the last year. The amount of time spent watching Tamil content per day has increased by 23%.
Zee5 expanded its content library by entering the Tamil entertainment industry last year with a diverse slate of Tamil originals starring the best of industry talent. Zee5’s Tamil slate garnered popularity and praise from consumers and critics alike for authentically bringing to life the cultural nuances of the region through fresh plots and compelling narratives. Vilangu and Ayali are the first two titles to enter the 100 million streaming club, with ‘Paper Rocket’, ‘Valimai, Yaanai’, ‘Coffee with Kadhal’, and ‘Veetle Vishesham’ following closely behind.
Speaking on the success, Zee5 India chief business officer Manish Kalra said, “We, at Zee5, are happy to receive an encouraging response at the very onset of our journey in this region. The advantages of following a consumer-first approach in curating the Tamil slate has worked successfully for us, taking us closer to the hearts of the Tamil audiences. Our growth is a testament to our market understanding in identifying and catering to audiences’ entertainment needs with increased choices like exclusive originals, blockbuster movies, international sports, TV+ content at different price points allowing them to explore and engage. Going forward, our focus will remain on sustaining the growth trend and scaling up our investments in the Tamil entertainment industry. We appreciate the support from the creative ecosystem and look forward to more collaborations as we bolster our Tamil content line-up with real, relatable and quality storytelling.”
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. south chief cluster officer Siju Prabhakaran said,”We have sojourned in the OTT space with a very confident outlook and understanding of the market. Our creative experimentation this year has had us pushing the envelope and presenting unconventional narratives that transcended traditional barriers of what people expect on OTT. Ayali, for instance, with its poignant take on girl child education, may not have ticked every box for an OTT show but the way it has caught on with audiences is heartening and opens up interesting new spaces for us to build characters and content in. On the other hand, Paper Rocket spoke to the young, millennial audiences, taking them on a joyride of emotions, entertainment and excitement. We are proud to have built a library of content that caters to the diverse tastes of our viewers. Going forward, the idea is to continue innovating, experimenting and produce compelling stories that are true to the land, have a strong moral and cultural compass, help our viewers navigate change by offering a fresh perspective and above everything else, bring people together.”
‘Sengalam,’ starring the immensely popular Kalaiarasan and Vani Bhojan, is the next exciting content offering on Zee5 Tamil. The show, written and directed by SR Prabhakaran, is rooted in Madurai culture and revolves around three brothers from a powerful family on a mission for vengeance, as well as the intriguing dynamics of politics and power-play between them.
According to industry reports, Zee5 is the fastest growing OTT platform in India, with diversified content across 100+ taste clusters and a focus on real, relevant, and resonant storytelling.
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.
