Category: Broadcast

Online consumer spending is set to reach $4.4 trillion in 2025, with the U.S. contributing $1.4 trillion. By 2029, this figure will surge to $6.6 trillion, with the US accounting for $2 trillion of total online expenditure, according to Omdia.

The projected growth in online consumer spending outpaces even the expansion of the media and entertainment sector, which is expected to grow from $1.07 trillion in 2025 to $1.3 trillion by 2029. Video content continues to lead this charge, driving 70% of global revenues, with online video (up 13%), cinema (12%), and gaming (7%) seeing the most significant growth in 2025.

While media and entertainment remain a key growth area, the acceleration of online consumer spending presents the most significant opportunity. Retail media and shoppable TV are driving a transformation in how content, commerce, and advertising intersect, creating new avenues for businesses to capitalize on.

With digital commerce continuing to expand rapidly, leading retailers are pivoting to adapt. Amazon has surpassed Walmart as the world’s largest retailer, highlighting the e-commerce shift. In response, Walmart has positioned itself as a digital-first powerhouse, making strategic moves like its recent acquisition of Vizio to enhance its digital advertising capabilities and integrate shoppable TV into its offerings. Currently, 20% of Walmart’s revenue comes from digital channels, and this figure is expected to grow significantly as the company invests more in retail media and connected TV (CTV).

As CTV adoption accelerates, TV operating systems (TV OS) are becoming essential in shaping the future of advertising and commerce. The integration of CTV, TV OS, and retail media is creating seamless pathways from content consumption to purchase, unlocking new revenue streams for broadcasters, advertisers, and retailers alike.

“Shoppable TV presents a massive opportunity for retailers, advertisers, and content creators. However, challenges remain such as seamless checkout, consumer trust, and platform integration which must be addressed before its full potential is realized,” said Omdia Senior Research Director, Maria Rua Aguete.

As shoppable TV and retail media continue to mature, the industry will see new partnerships and innovations emerge. The convergence of entertainment and commerce is reshaping the digital media landscape. Companies that successfully integrate CTV, TV OS, and retail media into their strategies will be well-positioned to capture significant market share and drive growth in the next era of digital commerce. Omdia

In a pivotal move to enhance international collaboration in the Media and Entertainment sector, the Government of India is set to engage with global stakeholders ahead of the World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025. Scheduled for March 13, 2025, at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan in New Delhi, this outreach event aims to gather participation for a crucial Global Media Dialogue, leading up to the inaugural WAVES Declaration in Mumbai on May 2, 2025.

High-Level Participation and Objectives
The outreach event will feature prominent figures, including Union Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar and Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Railways, and MeitY Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw. They will be joined by Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting & Parliamentary Affairs Dr. L. Murugan and Maharashtra Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis. Together, they will emphasize the transformative potential of WAVES as a unified global platform for the rapidly evolving Media and Entertainment sector. The event is expected to attract over 100 ambassadors and high commissioners, highlighting opportunities for collaborative efforts within the industry.

Global Media Dialogue: Shaping the Future
The Global Media Dialogue, part of WAVES 2025, aims to unite leaders, policymakers, industry stakeholders, media professionals, and artists to engage in meaningful discussions about the future of the audio-visual and entertainment sectors. Scheduled for May 2, 2025, in Mumbai, the dialogue will focus on fostering international collaboration, technological innovation, and ethical practices. A primary goal is to promote open communication and cooperation among nations to ensure fair and transparent growth in the Media and Entertainment sector.

Key discussion points will include strategies for enhancing cross-border collaboration and creating a platform for knowledge-sharing. The dialogue will also address the importance of equitable access and growth for all stakeholders in the industry, ensuring that trade practices remain open and fair. By addressing common challenges and opportunities, the Global Media Dialogue aims to foster global harmony within the Media and Entertainment sector.

WAVES 2025: A Premier Global Event
WAVES 2025 is set to be a landmark event in the Media and Entertainment industry, taking place from May 1 to May 4, 2025, in Mumbai, Maharashtra. This premier global summit aims to connect India’s Media and Entertainment industry with the international market while simultaneously linking the global industry with India. The event seeks to foster growth, collaboration, and innovation, positioning India as a hub for content creation, intellectual property, and technological advancement.

WAVES 2025 will feature various dynamic platforms designed to promote collaboration and innovation. The WAVES Bazaar will serve as a marketplace for business partnerships and content acquisition, introducing the first-ever e-bazaar for year-round global content trade. Additionally, the WaveXcelerator will connect startups in the Media and Entertainment sector with investors and mentors through live pitching sessions. The CreatoSphere will provide immersive experiences, including masterclasses, workshops, and a gaming arena, culminating in the WAVES CIC Awards. These initiatives aim to establish WAVES 2025 as a transformative event that drives a unified approach to the global Media and Entertainment industry.

As the countdown to WAVES 2025 begins, the Government of India is poised to lead the way in fostering international collaboration and innovation within the Media and Entertainment sector. Observervoice

Reliance- and Disney-owned broadcaster JioStar will down the shutters on several of its niche channels and two underperforming Odia-language channels on 15 March 2025 (Saturday), exactly two years after another such series of launches and closures on 15 March 2023. These are Comedy Central, MTV Beats, Vh1 and Star Life (previously Fox Life) in both SD and HD feeds, as well as the SD-only Bindass and Colors Odia — plus the HD feed of the struggling Odia channel Star Kiran, whose SD version will continue — totalling 11 channels in all. Many of these channels, especially those run by the pre-merger Viacom18 like Vh1 and Comedy Central, were on air for a decade or two, and their closure will be acutely felt by large swathes of urban Indians who grew up with them.

While this was never explicitly announced, these channels were excluded from JioStar’s new RIO (Reference Interconnect Offer) document on 13 February 2025, which also stated the launch of many new regional Star Sports 2-branded channels that replace the existing Sports18 channels. Therefore it was a given that they would be shuttered on 15 March, and indeed on 1 March these channels started showing scrolls that they would be discontinued on that day. MTV Beats, Vh1 and Comedy Central later ran campaigns on TV and social media informing viewers of their impending closure and celebrating their special moments.

However, many other niche channels have been spared from closure for the time being, including Colors Infinity, Star Movies, Star Movies Select, Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, History TV18, Disney International HD, MTV and all the kids’ channels, which use the Disney Channel, Hungama and Nick brands. Even so, this may not be the last round of closures from JioStar, because several other channels were flagged as required to be sold or closed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in October 2024. The fate of those channels — namely Jalsha Movies (Bengali), Colors Marathi, Colors Super (Kannada), Hungama and Super Hungama — hangs in the balance, though no decision has been taken thus far.

Why are so many longstanding JioStar channels being closed?
As crores of Indians, especially youth, have moved to streaming services like JioStar’s own JioHotstar (which replaced Disney+ Hotstar and JioCinema on 14 February) and the music streaming platform JioSaavn — in addition to competitors like YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, SonyLIV, Amazon MX Player and Spotify — JioStar has needed to change its broadcast and streaming strategy drastically. As a result, JioStar no longer finds it sustainable to keep running these channels in genres like English GEC, music and lifestyle, even though it continues to have a smaller presence in these and other niche genres.

Moreover it has been struggling badly in Odia compared to other regional languages, with both Star Kiran (launched in 2022) and the 23-year-old Colors Odia failing to attract audiences. However, only Star Kiran’s HD feed is being axed while the SD feed survives, which will remain its only Odia GEC (general entertainment channel) going forward, since Colors Odia is being closed as well. These changes are a sign of JioStar’s aggressive shift towards launching more sports channels and closing niche and underperforming channels, as it leans heavily on ad revenue from sports and particularly cricket properties — including the IPL, WPL and ICC and BCCI events — to recoup billions of dollars’ worth of investments in global cricket rights.

Below is a table that lists all the channels that will be closed on 15 March 2025, followed by a comprehensive table of all JioStar channels — including History TV18, which was technically not run by the pre-merger Viacom18 — after these closures and the launches of the new Star Sports channels.

Over the next few pages we examine how these niche channels’ closures are an irreparable loss to the Indian TV landscape in the 2020s and beyond, especially with the loss of brands as iconic as Vh1, Bindass and Comedy Central in the youth sector — much like Channel V and Star World in years past — as well as JioStar’s failures in Odisha with both Colors Odia and Star Kiran HD. DreamDTH

Cinelytic, the premier AI-powered content intelligence platform for the global entertainment industry, today announced its acquisition of Jumpcut Media, a leading provider of AI-driven IP management and audience analysis tools. The acquisition further cements Cinelytic’s position as the entertainment industry’s most comprehensive solution for optimizing decision-making and productivity across the entire content lifecycle.

“With the addition of Jumpcut’s powerful technology, Cinelytic tools become an even more essential tool for studios, producers, and executives looking to make strategic, well-informed content decisions,” said Tobias Queisser, Co-founder & CEO of Cinelytic. “We recognize the challenges studio executives are facing today, from budget constraints to navigating evolving market dynamics. Our AI solutions provide the critical business insights and productivity tools needed – without impacting the creative process. Cinelytic sees AI as a utility that closes the gap between business strategy and creative vision, ensuring that great storytelling reaches its full potential.”

By integrating Jumpcut’s proprietary technology—including its industry-adopted ScriptSense and SocialSense platforms—Cinelytic enhances its ability to provide entertainment professionals with unparalleled insights into content development, audience alignment, and market potential in real-time. Used by over 400 studios and agencies in the past year alone, Jumpcut’s AI-powered workflow tools have rapidly become a trusted resource for creative teams managing high volumes of scripts, books, treatments, and industry data.

Jumpcut Founder and CEO Kartik Hosanagar added: “We are thrilled about the potential this combination unlocks and are excited to take our products to the next level. Our mission has always been to help creative execs discover and de-risk bold and creative ideas. Jumpcut Co-founder Dilip Rajan continued: “By joining forces with Cinelytic, we are reinforcing the notion that AI should support creativity through better business intelligence and productivity.”

Jumpcut’s ScriptSense platform will be seamlessly integrated into the Cinelytic ecosystem, allowing users to efficiently manage and evaluate IP, including film/TV scripts and books at scale. The system’s AI-powered capabilities enable creative professionals to better manage submissions, run coverage, version comparison, production breakdowns and surface valuable contextual insights—all within a secure and collaborative interface.

By empowering decision-makers with the instant foresight they need, Cinelytic is enabling the industry to take more better-informed risks, invest in more projects, and ultimately create additional opportunities for creatives. PR Newswire

Global revenue from over the top (OTT) business messaging will increase from $3.6 billion in 2025 to $9.8 billion in 2029, according to Juniper Research.

This sizeable growth of 265% will be driven by WhatsApp’s transition to a per message pricing model.

WhatsApp is the largest OTT messaging application in the world, with more than 2 billion users globally, and exhibits even greater dominance in the OTT business messaging market. Therefore, the changes to WhatsApp’s pricing model will have an outsized impact on how vendors monetise OTT business messaging.

WhatsApp’s New Model to Boost OTT Business Messaging Adoption
The report revealed that enterprises found WhatsApp’s ‘conversational pricing’ model to be unnecessarily complex. The conversational pricing model charged enterprises for a 24-hour chat window, rather than by messages sent. This confused many enterprises considering adopting WhatsApp as a business messaging channel.

WhatsApp’s return to a per message model, which enterprises are familiar with, will enable WhatsApp to further grow its market share in the business messaging market over the next four years, with enterprise users able to better gauge their return on investment. Therefore, WhatsApp’s change in pricing is expected to significantly boost adoption of WhatsApp business messaging.

Research author Alex Webb remarked: “To capitalise on this growth, communications platforms must focus on providing management services for key features such as product catalogues and click-to-chat ads. These services will ensure that enterprises have a single management platform for all their WhatsApp use cases; simplifying the addition of features such as click-to-chat ads into their messaging strategies.” Juniper Research

Netflix India yesterday posted an image on its X account featuring a collage of Ajith Kumar’s burst-out face in Vidaamuyarchi alongside Vijay’s burst-out face in Leo, which has now gone viral on social media.

After this post, many Vijay fans on social media started commenting on the post, saying, “Don’t compare Vidaamuyarchi with Leo. Leo is a classic, and Vidaamuyarchi is scrap.”

Even though Netflix India is just posting such things for social media engagement, it is resulting in abusive trolls and toxic fan fights.

Netizens argue that Netflix India and other OTT platforms should stop posting such content. Such posts and content, despite being entertaining, are considered a trigger point for fan fights, and these are becoming a major reason for such conflicts, say critics.

However, after several criticisms were raised, it remains to be seen whether Netflix India will stop posting such content in the future. M9.News

Michigan lawmakers want to connect everyone to high-speed, broadband internet. And they have billions of dollars to do it. But their plan to do so isn’t a good one. In fact, it is almost guaranteed to spend too much money to connect very few people, and to take a long time doing so.

The Michigan High Speed Internet office (MIHI) recently laid out the status of its plan in testimony before a state House committee.

Michigan has two primary programs: the state’s ROBIN (or Realizing Opportunity with Broadband Infrastructure Networks) grand program, and the federal BEAD (or Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) program. Both are almost entirely funded by taxpayers through a mix of state, local and federal funding. In total, ROBIN is set to spend about $450 million while BEAD is funded at $1.6 billion for Michigan.

Right now, 94% of Michigan households have access to high-speed internet. That leaves 6%, or 200,000 Michiganders, as “unserved.” These programs are intended to connect this group of residents.

But in its testimony, the MIHI office moved the goal posts. A higher percentage of Michigan households have access to speeds of under 100 Mbps, and some have access to lightning-fast “gig” internet. So state officials are targeting money at these households and community organizations.

The ROBIN program was funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act while BEAD money comes from a separate federal broadband program. Both were passed in 2021. Yet little has actually been done with the program.

ROBIN, which was started as part of “emergency” rescue spending during the COVID lockdowns, connects only 17,000 households. The officials said it will be a best-case scenario of 72,000 by 2027. Even if successful, this will be at a cost of $3,000 to $10,000 per household.

BEAD money is rolling out even slower. The Biden Administration and Michigan officials have interpreted this money as going to “unserved and underserved” areas and for “fixed” broadband – by which they mean fiber line and not mobile or satellite. At the committee, officials said this is a “fill-the-gap” program between ROBIN and what private industry is already doing.

That is going to hurt unserved rural communities. It means people who already have “pretty good” internet speeds could get funding to bring them up to great speeds. And community organizations with high-speed internet are also eligible for “gig” coverage. But the BEAD and ROBIN funds will be depleted quickly if used to give faster service to those who already have very good service. It doesn’t make sense for taxpayers to cover that while giving a lower priority to those who don’t have any broadband options at all.

“Our goal is to get to 1 gigabit symmetrical service for not only institutions but homes and businesses as well,” MIHI Chief Connectivity Officer Eric Frederick said at the hearing.

That is a fine goal for private industry. It is not a good goal for a government agency almost entirely reliant on taxpayer dollars. Few people need gigabit internet, and by focusing on this MIHI is going to leave others behind.

The practical reality is that instead of helping roughly 6% of state residents who don’t have access to broadband, the office is shifting its focus to the 90% who are already served (and seeing internet speeds increase every year, driven by the market).

In its presentation, MIHI also made it clear that it was going to focus specifically on laying fiber internet to hit these goals – not other technologies that can already provide high-speed internet. And the office will enforce stringent environmental review rules and favors for labor unions (requiring prevailing wage or federal Davis-Bacon wages).

Other states are pushing back on the restrictions, and this misinterpretation of the law by the Biden Administration is likely to be re-written by the Trump Administration. It makes little sense for Michigan to maintain unnecessary requirements that only serve to slow down building broadband.

The timeline for all of this is disheartening. The state established a high-speed internet office years ago. The funding for this was passed nearly four years ago. But the BEAD program doesn’t expect to break ground on projects until 2026. It should not take five years from Congressional appropriations just to start building out a project. Mackinac

Home broadband subscriptions for telecom companies are expected to increase 177 per cent to 111 million by FY2030 as opposed to 40 million in 2024, said HSBC Global Research.

“We expect home broadband to be the next big growth opportunity for telecom operators and expect TAM (Total Addressable Market) to expand to $7 billion as we forecast subs growing 2.75x to 111m by FY30e,” said HSBC, listing 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) service and fibre home passes as the key catalyst for TAM growth.

FWA adoption increased over the last nine months as equipment prices went down and operators strengthened their installation and distribution capabilities. Citing Reliance Industries’ recent 3QFY25 results, HSBC said that 70 per cent of the telco’s new AirFiber (FWA) connects are from beyond top 1,000 towns.

“[This] reinforces our view on demand for the home broadband service. Telcos are well placed to capture a share of household entertainment spend with their bundled home broadband plans, which come with a rich content offering,” said the report.

The report also expects Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel to be the key beneficiaries of this trend, predicting Jio to capture 50 per cent of the market share by FY30e and reaching 56 million subs and Airtel to reach 23 per cent of market share by FY30e, with 25 million subs.

In FY24, Jio recorded 11.3 million subs with a 35 per cent annual growth. HSBC expects Jio’s home broadband subs to surge by 51 per cent CAGR over FY24-27e to 38.8 million. Similarly, Airtel reported 7.6 million subs in FY24 with a 26 per cent annual growth. The telco’s home broadband subs will increase by 28 per cent CAGR over FY24-27e to 15.9 million. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea reported 1,043 million subs in Q4FY24. The Hindu Business Line

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) is back in the spotlight after its promoters increased their stake in the company. According to the brokerage, Nuvama, the company’s subscription revenue continues to rise steadily, while advertisement revenue is expected to recover in the coming quarters. The brokerage has maintained a ‘Buy’ rating for the stock.

Let’s break it down and understand what this means for investors as well as how is Zee Entertainment positioned for growth?

Nuvama on Zee Entertainment : Promoters boost stake
After a long gap, Zee Entertainment promoters have stepped in and acquired around 2.7 million shares worth Rs 270 million through open market purchases. This has raised their stake from 3.99% to 4.28%.

Promoters typically buy shares when they believe the stock is undervalued and has strong long-term potential. According to the brokerage report, “the quantum of this acquisition shows belief in the long-term prospects and growth potential of the company.”

Moreover, Zee Entertainment share price is currently trading at a one-year forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 10x, significantly lower than its historical average of 14x, added the brokerage report.

Nuvama on Zee Entertainment : Subscription revenue growth
Zee’s subscription revenue has been on a steady upward trend for the last seven quarters. In Q3FY25, it recorded a 6.6% year-on-year (YoY) increase, primarily driven by Zee5’s growing subscriber base.

This segment is expected to continue its growth trajectory, aided by price hikes in traditional TV services, expanding digital subscriber base, and strong content pipeline, added the report.

Nuvama on Zee Entertainment: Ad revenue challenges
Zee Entertainment, like many other media houses, has been facing challenges in advertising revenue due to weak macroeconomic conditions. The urban slowdown has particularly affected FMCG brands, a key revenue driver for broadcasters.

However, as per the brokerage report, ad revenue is likely to rebound from Q2FY26 onwards, supported by a recovery in urban demand and falling crude oil prices, boosting FMCG companies’ margins and ad budgets.

According to the brokerage report, “We reckon ad spends shall improve for these companies in FY26 with falling crude prices increasing the wallet share towards ad spends.”

In addition to this, Zee Entertainment has been shifting focus from national brands to local FMCG advertisers, who are willing to pay a 50% premium over national players for visibility.

Nuvama on Zee Entertainment: Beyond TV – A multi-sector growth strategy
Zee Entertainment’s focus is not just on traditional broadcasting. The company is actively expanding across four key verticals – Linear TV, Digital,
Movies, and Music.

During its Q3FY25 earnings call, ZEEL emphasised its commitment to improving margins. “In Q4FY25, Zee expects to make good strides on the margin front. Key focus growth area will be investment, movie launches, and revenue,” the company stated.

The company aims to achieve an EBITDA margin of 18-20% by FY26, a significant improvement from its current levels.

According to the brokerage report, “The stock is trading at oversold levels and presents an attractive valuation opportunity.”

Zee Entertainment stock performance
Zee Entertainment’s share price closed at Rs 107.21 today, gaining 3.12% in a single session. Over the past five days, the share price of Zee Entertainment has surged nearly 19%. However, looking at a broader timeline, it has faced challenges, dropping 23% in the last six months and 31% over the past year. Financial Express