iWorld
Zee5 cranks up the volume with its home-brewed transcoder tech
MUMBAI: When it comes to streaming short-form content, Zee5 isn’t just playing catch-up—it’s rewiring the race. In a move that’s part brainy, part ballsy, the OTT giant has unveiled its own in-house transcoder, a custom-built beast optimised for vertical videos that trims costs, speeds up start times, and delivers slick playback to boot.
India’s homegrown streaming powerhouse has ditched its third-party transcoding setup and built a bespoke system optimised for the Google Cloud Platform (GCP). The result? A 20 per cent reduction in video start times, 10-15 per cent smaller file sizes, and a staggering 92 per cent drop in transcoding costs. Translation: viewers get smoother video, Zee5 gets cheaper bills, and the engineers probably got cake.
“At Zee5, we are constantly innovating to create superior viewing experiences while optimising operational efficiencies. We have taken a giant leap in delivering high-quality vertical content at scale with the in-house transcoder. This solution enables faster load times, reduced buffering, and seamless playback, ensuring our users get the best experience every time they press play. Additionally, the massive cost savings allow us to reinvest in creating even more compelling content for our audience,” said ZEEL SVP Suneel Khare.
With vertical video consumption exploding thanks to reels, shorts, and scroll-happy viewers, Zee5’s message-driven architecture is built for the now. It processes content at lightning pace, cutting down publishing delays to virtually zero. Since launch, the transcoder has reported zero bugs, zero playback issues, and possibly zero sleep for the dev team.
“Building a cloud-native transcoding solution in-house was a strategic move to future-proof our content delivery infrastructure. This innovation empowers us with complete control over video processing, ensuring better efficiency, scalability, and a higher degree of customisation. More importantly, it strengthens our ability to deliver high-quality content with unmatched cost efficiency, setting new benchmarks in the industry,” added Zee5 principal architect Rahul Banerjee.
The new tech not only supports Zee5’s current content ecosystem, but also tees up for future expansions in video encoding and format diversification. In an age where buffering equals boredom, and bloat equals bounce rates, Zee5’s in-house power play might just be the smoothest stream of all.
iWorld
Hari Om OTT premieres Bhagwan Jhulelal Sai series
First devotional show on Jhulelal Sai streams in Sindhi and Hindi.
MUMBAI: Hari Om OTT just turned the tide for devotional dramas because when Jhulelal Sai steps onto the small screen, even the waves start streaming in two languages. Hari Om OTT, India’s leading devotional streaming platform launched in June 2024, has premiered Bhagwan Jhulelal Sai, a milestone series that marks the first-ever show dedicated to the revered deity of the Sindhi community. The show, starring Manish Raisinghani as Jhulelal Sai / Varun Dev and Parag Tyagi as Mirkh Shah, launched on Jhulelal Jayanti and is available in both Sindhi and Hindi.
The series chronicles the life, journey and teachings of Bhagwan Jhulelal Sai, blending mythology with historical elements to deliver an authentic and inspiring narrative for global audiences.
Manish Raisinghani said, “Portraying Jhulelal Sai and Varun Dev was not just a role, it was a spiritual journey and a moment of immense pride for my family and community. This one holds a special place in my heart, especially since the show is coming in our very own Sindhi language as well.”
Parag Tyagi added, “Jhulelal Sai is the first-ever show that beautifully blends mythology with history. Hari Om has achieved something truly special by bringing the stories of our gods and goddesses to audiences in their authentic language.”
Hari Om OTT CEO Avinash Dugar said, “With Bhagwan Jhulelal Sai, we’re excited to share this inspiring story with the Sindhi community and beyond. We will continue to showcase the stories of Indian culture and Sanatan Dharma to the world, presented in their own language.”
The premiere builds on Hari Om OTT’s track record of acclaimed devotional titles including Mata Lakshmi, Jai Jagannath, Shri Tirupati Balaji, Mata Saraswati and Chandra Dev, all focused on celebrating India’s cultural and spiritual legacy through high-quality storytelling.
In a streaming landscape crowded with fiction, Hari Om OTT is quietly proving that the most powerful stories aren’t made up, they’re the ones that have already inspired generations, now delivered straight to your screen in the language of devotion. Bhagwan Jhulelal Sai is now streaming on Hari Om OTT.
