SC to examine OTT regulations tomorrow

A Supreme Court bench of Ashok Bhushan and Subhash Reddy has asked to see the new regulations brought out by the central government on content apps. In an appeal for anticipatory bail for Amazon Prime creative head Aparna Purohit in a case of outraging Hindu sentiments, the bench asked the government what it plans to […]

Sun NXT to abandon ad-based strategy?

The management of Chennai-based Sun TV Network seems to have abandoned the earlier ‘hybrid strategy’ for its digital platform and come to the conclusion that an advertising-led model will likely not work in the video-on-demand universe in the longer term. The company’s Sun NXT app has been by far the most aggressive player as far […]

Viacom18 testing Voot Premium with international content

Viacom18, the entertainment-focused joint venture of TV18 Broadcast and US-based ViacomCBS, will launch a new content app focusing on premium, English language content, CEO Sudhanshu Vats said today. Commenting on his company’s third quarter results, Vats said the app is currently undergoing beta testing. Viacom18 currently has two apps, Voot — which largely offers Indian […]

Govt ‘cannot find’ two centrally protected monuments in Delhi

The Central government can no longer find two centrally protected monuments in Delhi, junior tourism minister Prahland Singh Patel said in parliament today. There are 174 monuments/sites that enjoy protection from the central government in Delhi. These have been declared as monument of national importance in the Delhi under Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and […]

Saregama adds internet to Carvaan, now has online radio, podcasts

Saregama Carvaan, arguably the most successful digital audio product in India, has finally got internet connectivity, and along with it, support for online radio and podcasts. Carvaan 2.0 comes with support for Wifi, said its maker Saregama. “The pre-loaded 5000 songs continue to be accessed anytime without internet along with other features like FM/ AM, […]

“Was Expecting This” -Tanushree Dutta slams police and courts

Tanushree Dutta, the US-based former Bollywood actress, said she was hardly surprised by the Maharashtra Police’s move to file a closure report in her complaint of sexual harassment by actor Nana Patekar and said the #MeToo movement’s aim is not to win justice for the victims via the legal machinery. She alleged that ‘a corrupt […]

2019: The Turning Point for Indian M&E?

Growth trends of last decade show that Indian M&E can act as an important contributor to India’s economic growth, but the sector continues to be a dwarf compared to its global peers. Can 2019 prove to be a point of inflection and kick-start next decade of explosive growth? The year was 2009 when Indian media […]

Jio Music no more, gets replaced by JioSaavn

Reliance Jio has pulled its enormously popular Jio Music app and replaced it with JioSaavn, a new app based largely on Saavn, a competitor that the company had acquired in March. Users who have enabled auto-updating of their apps will be upgraded to the new application automatically. With over 100 mln (10 cr) downloads, Jio […]

Rs 540 cr contract awarded to redevelop Lucknow’s iconic Charbagh railway station

Construction major Ahluwalia Contracts said it has won a Rs 539 cr order from the government of India-controlled NBCC for the redevelopment of the iconic Charbagh Railway station in Lucknow. With this, said the company, the total inflow of orders in the seven months of this year has been Rs 2,575 cr. Further details, such […]

Chetan Bhagat says ‘enough is enough’ on fresh MeToo allegations

Chetan Bhagat, India’s most popular pulp fiction writer, today sought to put his foot down on allegations that he sexually harassed people on WhatsApp. His response comes in the wake of yet a new allegation, four days after a woman leaked a conversation with him in which he confessed to ‘trying to woo’ her. In […]

Bharti Airtel to be ‘careful’ about content investments, prefer tie-ups

Reliance Jio’s delays in ‘going pay’ with its content suite seems to be giving rivals like Bharti Airtel pause for thought as far as their content plans are concerned. Jio unveiled a large suite of content applications when it launched its telecom service two years ago, prompting rivals like Airtel and Idea Cellular to draw […]

ALTBalaji adding 25,000-30,000 paid users per day – CEO

ALTBalaji, the biggest Indian provider of original online content, is signing up paid users at the rate of 25,000-30,000 per day, said Nachiket Pantvaidya, the CEO of Balaji Telefilms, the company behind the app. “We expect to have paid users of 10 mln by the end of the year,” Pantvaidya said in an interview with BTVI. […]

Porn on Phone? You could go to prison for 3 years

People carrying pornographic or other indecent material on their phones can end up getting prison terms of up to three years under a new law proposed by the ministry of women and child development headed by Maneka Gandhi. Under the ‘Indecent Representation of Women Act’, anyone possessing printed content, drawings and films “which contains indecent […]

‘Fake news’ directive withdrawn on Modi’s orders

Faced with severe criticism from the media and the opposition, the Prime Minister’s office has directed the Information & Broadcasting ministry to withdraw the ‘fake news’ directive. The ministry had, last evening, issued a statement that envisaged provisions to punish journalists who reported ‘fake news’. According to the press release issued yesterday, action — including […]

NIFT students in Kerala fight for right to wear jeans, protest moral policing by locals

Students of the National Institute of Fashion Technology’s campus in Kannur held a public demonstration and rally to protest what they said were increasing cases of sexual harassment against girl students. Protesters took out a rally through Kannur town to question police inaction over rising cases of attacks on female NIFT students by gangs of […]

Doctors rushed to Jodhpur after Amitabh Bachchan falls ill

A team of doctors has been rushed to the set of film ‘Thugs of Hindustan’ in Jodhpur in Rajasthan after actor Amitabh Bachchan complained of ‘general uneasiness’. Bachchan’s condition is reported to be stable. The veteran actor has been shooting for the movie for several months. According to sources, the likely cause of the uneasiness […]