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Discovery takes ‘Atlas’ into the 3D realm
MUMBAI: Discovery has announced that its show Atlas 4D will return for a new season later this year in 3D for the first time.
Atlas 4D transports viewers through millions of years of evolving geology and climate – past, present and future. In this three hour special event, dynamic regions are featured and explained, including the African Great Rift Valley, the Mediterranean and the islands of Hawaii. Darlow Smithson Productions (DSP) is producing the original three-part special for Discovery.
Atlas 4D travels across time to tell the science and history of each locale, uncovering connections between the landscape, natural history and indigenous peoples. Previously unknown connections include how the spread of Islam sparked the Italian Renaissance, how an ancient ice age provided Polynesian settlers in Hawaii with a breakthrough technology and how the formation of the Rift Valley forced a crucial evolutionary step for humankind.
Discovery Channel president, GM Clark Bunting says, “Atlas 4D is going to amaze viewers as they see the ‘how‘ and ‘why‘ of some of the globe‘s most riveting locales. We believe that ‘discovery‘ is not just our name, it is our overarching mission. “The 4D time-machine is an extremely innovative filmmaking technique and Darlow Smithson is leading the pack in this field. This type of creative tool enables us to tell science and history stories and enhances John Hendrick‘s vision of telling the world‘s stories in a new and riveting way.”
Atlas first premiered in 2006. The brainchild of Discovery founder and chairman John Hendricks, the broadcaster says that the show was the most ambitious high-definition television project ever to go into production.
The special event series combined photography and special effects to paint a record of civilizations and geographies. Hendricks‘ on-air vision grew into robust educational offerings with teaching materials and resources still being used in classrooms around the world.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
