iWorld
ZEE5 enters into esports with streaming IESF Big Bang Asia Open 2023
Mumbai: ZEE5, India and Bharat’s largest home-grown video streaming platform and multilingual storyteller for millions of entertainment seekers, is all set to foray into the esports streaming with IESF Big Bang Asia Open 2023. The tournament will be streamed on the platform from 4 March to 2 April 2023. Following the success of ILT20, and expanding the catalogue of sports offerings, ZEE5 partners with Big Bang Media to bring one of the biggest esports tournaments for the viewers free of cost.
The IESF Big Bang Asia Open 2023 has over 80,000 participants from across 40 countries in Asia and the Middle East. With qualifiers already underway on passport.gg, ZEE5 is the exclusive streaming partner for the play-offs and the finals of the four featured games, Clash of Clans, Real Cricket, Dota 2 and EFootball.
Talking about the series, ZEE5 India CBO Manish Kalra said, “We are delighted to announce the streaming of the leading esports championship, IESF Big Bang Asia Open 2023 on ZEE5. Being a customer first brand, we are committed to catering to consumers’ widespread demands. Esports is a popular genre amongst youth with a remarkable potential to grow in future, with advancements in technology and gaming infrastructure. Post the encouraging response on ILT20, we are happy to partner with IESF and Big Bang Media for the Big Bang Asia 2023 tournament. We are excited and hopeful audiences will enjoy watching the games.”
Commenting on the partnership, YouTuber and gaming influencer, Ajey Nagar shared, “We are very proud to have ZEE5 as our streaming partner for the IESF Big Bang Asia Open. ZEE5’s quality of content, distribution muscle & creative leadership makes it a dominant media house across geographies and will help establish the IESF Asia Open as the leading esports championship in the region and provide gamers, creators & audiences with an unmatched immersive experience.”
Here is what Hipi CBO GBS Bindra said about the partnership, “Big Bang Asia Open is more than just a tournament, it’s an electrifying experience that brings together the best online gamers from across Asia. We are thrilled to bring the finest moments from this exhilarating event to millions of fans, as the official short video partner for Big Bang Asia Open. Gaming enthusiasts on Hipi will have exclusive access to the exciting highlights and moments from the tournament.”
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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.
