BYJU's will be laying off nearly 4,500 staffers to cut costs, media networks have reported.

The decision follows Arjun Mohan’s appointment as the new CEO.

As per reports, Mohan plans to merge business verticals of the company and the changes will be announced soon.

Both permanent and contractual employees could be asked to go, the reports said.

This June, the ed-tech company laid off 1,000 employees citing measures to improve finances and increase profitability.

DistroTV, a global streaming platform owned by DistroScale, and OTTplay Premium, an OTT content streaming, discovery and recommendation platform, have announced a new partnership that will bring DistroTV's 170+ free-to-watch, live streaming channels to OTTplay users in India.

OTTplay Premium is a popular OTT platform in India that gives you access to 24+ OTT platforms with personalized recommendations of shows, web series and movies based on a user's preference of language, genre, platform, actor, filmmaker, and more. This partnership with DistroTV will significantly expand the content available to OTTplay Premium users.

"DistroTV's mission has always been to bring diverse, global voices to audiences around the world," said Navdeep Saini, CEO of DistroScale. "This partnership with OTTplay allows us to further that mission by bringing our extensive lineup of live streaming channels to even more viewers in India."

Vikas Khanchandani, CEO of DistroScale, India, SEA, and MENA, added, "We are thrilled to partner with OTTplay, a platform that shares our commitment to delivering a wide range of content to viewers. This partnership will allow us to reach even more viewers in India, providing them with access to our diverse lineup of channels."

"OTTplay Premium is excited to partner with Distro TV to bring live TV channels to more viewers in India. This partnership is a testament to our commitment to providing our users with the best possible entertainment experience. We are confident that our users will enjoy the wide variety of content that Distro TV has to offer, and we look forward to working with them to make it even more accessible and enjoyable for our viewers." Said Avinash Mudaliar, CEO & Co Founder, OTTplay.

This partnership reinforces DistroTV's commitment to bringing diverse, global voices to audiences around the world, and OTTplay's commitment to helping users discover new and exciting content.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released a consultation paper on 'Encouraging R&D in Telecom, Broadcasting and IT (ICT) Sectors’.

The purpose of the paper, as per TRAI, is to develop a comprehensive ecosystem for enhancing R&D in the ICT sector of the country to ensure processes for generating a pool of R&D scientists/ engineers, duly supported by the government and private partners.

According to TRAI, R&D has played a crucial role in shaping today's world.

However, in the existing R&D ecosystem in India, there are areas of further improvement in promoting R&D ICT sector, learning from the international best practices in R&D and apply relevant learnings in India and also to identify the issues which require interventions in terms of policies and incentives to improve the R&Din the leT sector and help India emerge as a world leader, TRAI stated.

According to the authority, in the consultation paper prepared based on the online brainstorming session and inputs from academia and industry experts from lIT Madras, lIT Kanpur and lIT Hyderabad etc., TRAI has analyzed the important issues which require intervention in the existing R&D ecosystem in India under the three focus elements: "Education & Training System", "Science System" and "Regulatory Framework".

The third focus element "Regulatory Framework" has been divided into two parts, namely, "Policies and Programs" and "IPR Framework". Proactively prioritizing R&D and innovation can create a favourable environment for budding entrepreneurs and innovators in the country. In the consultation paper, TRAI emphasises the need to build a robust R&D ecosystem and discusses potential issues which need to be addressed to enable the same.

TRAI said, “Technological advancements and convergence in Telecom, Broadcasting and ITsectors are taking place at a rapid pace. Some of the emerging trends in these sectors are 5G, 6G, Open-RAN, Internet of Things (loT),AI and ML, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Metaverse, Quantum Computing, Cloud Services, Edge computing, Network Function Virtualization (NFV), Software Defined Networking (SDN), Over-The-Top (OTT)services and Hybrid Set Top Box (STB) etc.”

In the Consultation Paper, TRAI said they also explored the R&D ecosystem of leading countries in R&D and innovation space. These include Israel, Republic of Korea, United States, Sweden, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Finland etc. International best practices in R&D may act as key learnings for India in its ambition to strengthen its R&D ecosystem and become a $5 trillion economy.

The authority has sought written comments from stakeholders by October 23, 2023, and counter comments by November 6, 2023.

Ad filmmaker Elias Kazmi (58) has met with an accident and is on ventilator support, as per media reports. He was riding a scooter and was dragged leaving him with critical injuries.

Kazmi, who is Director-Production at Turner International India, was allegedly hit and dragged by a car being driven by a juvenile. The incident took place in Jammu's Bhatindi, media networks reported.

According to reports citing eyewitness accounts, Kazmi approached the juvenile behind the wheels of a Mahindra Thar after colliding with the vehicle. The 16-year-old son of the deputy superintendent of police in Jammu and Kashmir allegedly hit the filmmaker again, dragging and critically injuring him in the process.

Friends and family have started a social media campaign to highlight the issue and to ensure justice is served.
Kazmi is currently on life support. 

Aaj Tak has launched India’s first ever AI Anchor modelled on a ‘human’ anchor. Hindi news anchor and Aaj Tak’s prolific news presenter, Anjana Om Kashyap, will now be complemented with an AI Avatar, Anjana 2.0.

With general elections around the corner, Anjana and Anjana 2.0 will be seen in a formidable partnership both on-ground and on-screen.

Anjana is the Managing Editor of 'Aaj Tak' popular for her shows ‘Halla Bol’ and ‘Special Reports’. Introduced on prime time on Tuesday, the AI avatar has already started to create a buzz on social media with netizens pouring in with their comments.

With Anjana 2.0, Aaj Tak will have its second AI Anchor featuring on prime-time programming on a national television channel. In the recent past, Aaj Tak introduced India’s first-ever AI Anchor SANA’ who is gaining success owing to her news presentation and production with wide-ranging interviews of State heads, Business leaders, Entertainment megastars etc. In under six months, Sana has already earned numerous accolades both on a national and international scale, including interacting with PM Modi (first AI Anchor to interact with a head of the state), Reading a French bulletin, anchoring a dedicated show on prime-time, and interacted with global business leaders like Brad Smith of Microsoft, celebrities like Shahrukh Khan and TV personality Seema Taparia.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) will be de-listed from FTSE Global Equity indices following its merger with Culver Max Entertainment (Sony Entertainment India), media networks have reported.

FTSE Russel has said the date of the merger is not known yet, media reports say.

Under the merger terms, Zee Entertainment Enterprises shareholders will receive 85 new Culver Max Entertainment shares for every 100 shares held.

“...subject to the completion of the merger, FTSE Russell anticipates Culver Max Entertainment will replace Zee Entertainment Enterprises in the FTSE Global Equity indices based on the merger terms on the effective date of the merger," it said.

According to Karan Taurani, senior vice president of research at brokerage Elara Capital, the delay is marginal. He added that there could be a marginal delay in filing the merged entity's closing precedents (CPs). The record date for a merger is usually given one week before delisting. As a result, relisting could take place in the second week of December 2023, he said.

On August 10, the Mumbai Bench of NCLT had given its nod to Zee's $10 billion merger with Culver Max. It had dismissed the objections raised by lenders including IDBI Trusteeship, IDBI Bank, Axis Finance, JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction Co and Imax Corp.

Recently, IDBI Bank and Axis Bank have moved the NCLAT challenging the NCLT order that had cleared the decks for the merger of ZEE and Sony after a roller-coaster ride of two years.

The journey of the merger began in December 2021 with ZEEL’s Board of Directors considering and approving the Scheme of Arrangement under Sections 230 to 232 of the Companies Act, 2013 (Scheme), whereby the Company and Bangla Entertainment Private Limited, an affiliate of Culver Max Entertainment Pvt Ltd (formerly known as Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited), shall merge in Culver Max Entertainment Pvt Ltd.

After getting the requisite approvals and NOCs from shareholders and certain regulators, including SEBI and the Competition Commission of India (CCI), the company filed a petition with NCLT for approval of the scheme.

On July 11, the tribunal reserved its order on the merger following hearing objections from several creditors, including Axis Finance, JC Flower Asset Reconstruction Co., IDBI Bank, IDBI Trusteeship and Imax Corp.

GroupM has launched the South Cinema Audience Behaviour Report that sheds light on the movie-going habits of the South cinema audience and provides insights to advertisers and marketers.

According to the report, ‘watching a movie at a theatre’ has the highest monthly average frequency of all outdoor leisure activities among South cinema audience - with an average of 1.8 visits per month, translating to 22 visits annually. The report also reveals that 8 out of 10 South Cinema audience visit a theatre at least once a month, which is twice the national average.

Commenting on the report, Ajay Mehta, MD - Cinema and OOH, GroupM India said, "Our report is a game-changing tool for marketers and advertisers looking to engage with South Cinema audience. By shedding light on the unique preferences and behaviours of this audience, we can now tailor our campaigns to resonate with them on a deeper level. A noteworthy example is the exceptional success of 'Jailer,' starring Rajinikanth, which has become the top-grossing Tamil film in India. Impressively, 'Jailer' ranks as the second-fastest Tamil film to amass an astonishing ₹550 crore worldwide at the box office. The fact that a heavy cross-section of South Cinema audience is watching 32 movies in a year highlights the immense potential of this market. With the South Cinema Audience Behaviour Report, we are equipped with the insights needed to tap into this potential and drive real business results."

The report further highlights that 'heavy' South moviegoers visit the cinema on an average of 32 times annually, which is 20 visits more than the national average. Further, the heavy cross-section of South Cinema audience from Andhra Pradesh & Telangana and, Kerala watches 36 movies in a year.

The report also throws a light on language preferences among the South Cinema audience.
In Karnataka, Telugu is the second most preferred language among those preferring Kannada, while in Kerala, Tamil is the second most preferred language for those preferring Malayalam. The report also suggests that horror/thriller is the top genre for visiting a cinema in Andhra Pradesh & Telangana and, Kerala.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana cine-goers prefer to watch a movie on the first day with a preference of 66% for any show on the first day. Apparently, all South cinema audience consider nearby theatres.

The South Cinema Audience Behaviour Report provides marketers and advertisers with valuable insights into the preferences and behaviours of Southern states regular cine-goers. The data and insights from this report will enable advertisers to create more effective marketing campaigns and better connect with the South Indian audience.