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Viacom18 signs content distribution deal with iStream.in
MUMBAI: Viacom18 and online video content networks company iStream.in have entered into an online video content distribution deal.
The deal will see iStream.in digitising, packaging and managing all video content belonging to Viacom18 channels across all online platforms.
Viacom18, the Network18 and Viacom JV, operates and runs a clutch of TV channels including Colors, MTV, Nick and Vh1.
“This is one of the biggest deals in the online video content market in India. Video is the fastest growing segment online and this deal will ensure that reality shows like Bigg Boss, Fear Factor-Khatron Ke Khiladi as well as serials like Balika Vadhu apart from properties like Roadies and Splitsvilla will be available online,” says iStream.in founder and CEO Radhakrishnan Ramachandran.
As part of the deal, iStream.in will create and manage online destinations for Viacom18 video content across multiple platforms. iStream.in currently has partnerships with all major online platforms like YouTube, Dailymotion, MSN, Yahoo, Indiatimes and Sify.
“We believe we can build equally powerful properties in the online space adding entertainment and engagement off the television screen as well,” says Viacom18 Media SVP – strategy & business development Anuj Poddar.
iStream will also have access to all archived content from Viacom18 including MTV Bakra with Cyrus Broacha and MTV Loveline with Malaika Arora.
The worldwide market for the ad-supported online video market is estimated at $3.5 billion and is expected to see a compounded annual growth rates of more than 35 per cent over the next four years, the company said in a statement.
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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.
