Prasar Bharati has extended the deadline for submitting bids to manage the marketing and sales of its upcoming OTT platform. The original deadline for tenders for has been pushed back due to administrative reasons.

Companies interested in the project now have until May 6th, 2024 to submit their proposals. 


The e-tender invites bids from pre-approved DAVP (CBC) multimedia and media sales agencies for a Rs. 4 crore contract (including taxes). The scope of work for the agencies will include branding, marketing, promotion, media planning, sales, and media buying for the platform across pre-launch, launch, and post-launch phases.



The chosen agency will be responsible for crafting a comprehensive strategy to generate excitement for the platform using various media channels. The contract spans the first 12 months following the launch and is extendable up to another 12 months based on performance review.


<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/television/prasar-bharati-invites-e-tenders-for-multimedia-and-media-sales-agency-ahead-of-its-ott-launch-exclusive-29898.htm">Also read: Prasar Bharati invites e-tenders for multimedia and media sales agency ahead of its OTT launch</a>

Prasar Bharati extends deadline for OTT platform’s marketing agency bid submission

The e-tender floated on April 19 invited bids from pre-approved DAVP (CBC) multimedia and media sales agencies for a Rs. 4 crore contract (including taxes).

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On May 17, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) reported a net profit of Rs. 13.35 crore of the quarter that ended March 2024. During the same quarter last year, ZEEL reported a loss of Rs. 196 crore. 

The company reported a profit of Rs. 58.5 crore in the third quarter of FY24. 

The company disclosed a total income of Rs 2185.29 crore. This is an increase from Rs. 2126.35 crore that the company reported a year ago during the same period. 

ZEEL’s advertising revenue was disclosed to be Rs. 1110.2 crore compared to Rs. 1005.8 crore in the fourth quarter of FY23.

“Domestic advertising revenue for the quarter grew by 10.6 percent YoY driven by the continued recovery in macro advertising environment and spending pickup by FMCG clients,” the company said in its statement. 

ZEEL reports profit of Rs.13.35 crore in Q4FY24

In a move aimed at democratizing access to digital commerce and fostering transparent and fair market access, WinZO is collaborating with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). 

This collaboration will leverage WinZO's extensive user base of over 175 million users, primarily accessing the internet in vernacular languages. WinZO is India's first skill gaming company to collaborate with ONDC.

WinZO is the largest interactive entertainment platform in India. The company partners with third-party developers to host games on their app, providing users with personalized multiplayer gameplay experiences in 12 languages. The WinZO platform facilitates over 4 billion micro-transactions per month across a portfolio of 100+ games and accounts for at least one out of every 300 UPI transactions in India, representing one of the highest volumes of UPI transactions driven by digital content players in India. WinZO is renowned for its unique user demographic, primarily hailing from Tier II-V cities of Bharat, characterized by high-frequency, low-value transactions or microtransactions. This makes it an organic partner for ONDC to reach the deepest corners of the country. Remarkably, over 20% of players on WinZO make their first-ever digital payment on the platform, thus connecting to the digital grid. 

As a business model, WinZO connects game developers with paying users, generating revenue higher than alternative sources such as advertisements and in-app purchases prevalent on Play Stores and App Stores.

WinZO Store, India's alternative to monopolistic multinational app stores, offers ONDC an opportunity to help digital businesses enhance revenue generation and reach a broader market. 

ONDC, which encompasses a network for grocery and food delivery, mobility, fashion, agri-products, and health and wellness, will list its services on the WinZO store, providing access to WinZO’s growing 175 million users. 

WinZO Store charges a single-digit commission compared to the 30% of other leading distribution platforms. By significantly reducing commission rates compared to conventional app stores, WinZO Store empowers digital businesses to enjoy improved profit margins, creates value for end-users, and provides businesses access to expanded distribution channels. Already, over 300 digital companies have experienced unprecedented revenue growth through this revolutionary platform.

WinZO has also emerged as a more trustworthy and transparent alternative for multinational gaming studios to list and distribute in-app gaming assets through its WinZO Store, thereby facilitating value creation for developers and users. Integrating with WinZO Store aligns perfectly with ONDC's mission to empower businesses and foster innovation within India's digital landscape while eradicating power concentration in the hands of a few monopolistic influential players.

"We’re super excited and delighted in welcoming WinZO to the ONDC network to advance our mission of empowering local homegrown start-ups," said T Koshy, CEO of ONDC. "Together, we aim to revolutionize the digital commerce industry, fostering a vibrant ecosystem where Indian talent and innovation takes center stage. Our collaboration will help the growth of local commerce and showcase the immense potential of India's digital landscape.”

“Our aim is to onboard diverse businesses and establish a public digital infrastructure akin to UPI, uniquely crafted for India. We're thrilled to see WinZO seamlessly integrated into this network, opening new avenues for engagement and innovation. Partnering with WinZO will enable ONDC to reach a wider user base, even in the remotest parts of the country, and create awareness about its importance in the rapidly growing tech-enabled commerce in Bharat. This will prove to be a massive push for adopting ONDC,” said Sanjeev Singh, Joint Secretary of DPIIT.

"In the digital age, democratizing innovation is key to unlocking the potential of tomorrow's entrepreneurs. Just as UPI revolutionized payments in 2018 and gave birth to companies like ours to emerge and scale across 175 million gamers. With the integration of WinZO and ONDC, we envision a future where many more WinZOs will emerge and innovate on top of this fertile layer of digital commerce that’s being built today through this partnership," said Paavan Nanda, Co-founder of WinZO.



ONDC and WinZO collaborate to boost digital commerce in India

The Scotland cricket team recently announced Karnataka-based Nandini dairy brand as their official sponsor in the upcoming T20 World Cup in USA. Karnataka’s Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on May 16 said that his government is determined to introduce the best quality milk products of the state to the rest of the world. 

On X, Siddaramaiah said that it's a “significant step” in making Nandini a global brand. “Karnataka’s proud Nandini company, known in countries like Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, USA, Dubai, UAE, is now sponsoring Scotland and Ireland in the T20 World Cup,” he shared. 

“We are determined to introduce to the world both the best quality milk products of the state and the hard work of the state’s farmers. This will be a significant step in making Nandini a global brand,” the CM said.

He also shared a picture of Scotland men’s team captain Richie Berrington wearing the jersey with Nandini’s brand logo on the sleeve.

“This time, Nandini will be the star in the World Cup, Kannada will be the star,” said Siddaramaiah. 


"Nandini will be the star in the World Cup": Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on WC team sponsorship

Keeping the internet open is crucial, and part of being open means Reddit content needs to be accessible to those fostering human learning and researching ways to build community, belonging, and empowerment online. Reddit is a large community that has long been an important space for conversation on the internet. Additionally, using LLMs, ML, and AI allow Reddit to improve the user experience for everyone. 

In line with this, Reddit and OpenAI today announced a partnership to benefit both the Reddit and OpenAI user communities in a number of ways:

OpenAI will bring enhanced Reddit content to ChatGPT and new products, helping users discover and engage with Reddit communities. To do so, OpenAI will access Reddit’s Data API, which provides real-time, structured, and unique content from Reddit. This will enable OpenAI’s AI tools to better understand and showcase Reddit content, especially on recent topics.

This partnership will also enable Reddit to bring new AI-powered features to redditors and mods. Reddit will be building on OpenAI’s platform of AI models to bring its powerful vision to life. 

Lastly, OpenAI will become a Reddit advertising partner.

"We are thrilled to partner with Reddit to enhance ChatGPT with uniquely timely and relevant information, and to explore the possibilities to enrich the Reddit experience with AI-powered features,” Brad Lightcap, OpenAI COO. 

“Reddit has become one of the internet’s largest open archives of authentic, relevant, and always up to date human conversations about anything and everything. Including it in ChatGPT upholds our belief in a connected internet, helps people find more or what they’re looking for, and helps new audiences find community on Reddit,” Steve Huffman, Reddit Co-Founder and CEO. 


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The merger scheme between Reliance Industries Limited’s (RIL) Viacom18, its wholly owned subsidiary Digital18 and The Walt Disney Company’s Star India has been admitted by the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).  In an order passed on May 7, Viacom18, as part of internal restructuring, has proposed to transfer the various businesses conducted by it into its wholly-owned subsidiary, namely Digital18. Viacom18 proposed to be the holding company for the various businesses. 



“This restructuring is with a view to bring operational efficiencies and facilitate future growth and diversification of respective businesses including facilitation of business segment specific strategic partnerships or investments for businesses like sports, general entertainment, digital content streaming, etc,” the order stated. 



It added, “The Scheme is being proposed for (i) Viacom18 to remain the holding company of the media operations of RIL group by transferring the Media Operations Undertaking and JioCinema Undertaking to Digital18; and (ii) combining V18 Undertaking with the business of Star India.” 



The combination will result in cost reduction due to synergies, thus creating value for shareholders of Viacom18, RIL group and Disney group, said the order. 



The merger of Star India with Reliance Industries is expected to be closed by the first half of 2025, The Walt Disney Company said in a regulatory filing on May 9.



The company said, “The Star India transaction is expected to close in the first half of calendar year 2025, subject to customary closing traditions, including regulatory approvals and government consents. If closing has not occurred by February 28, 2026, Star India or RIL may terminate the transaction.” 



The joint venture, which will see the businesses of Viacom18 and Star India being combined, will have a license to more than 30,000 Disney content assets, and will be granted the exclusive right to distribute Disney films and production in India.



The JV will be one of the leading TV and digital streaming platforms for entertainment and sports content in India, bringing together iconic media assets across entertainment (e.g. Colors, StarPlus, StarGOLD) and sports (e.g. Star Sports and Sports18) including access to highly anticipated events across television and digital platforms through JioCinema and Hotstar. The JV will have over 750 million viewers across India and will also cater to the Indian diaspora across the world.



The JV will seek to lead the digital transformation of the media and entertainment industry in India and offer consumers high-quality and comprehensive content offerings anytime and anywhere. The combination of the media expertise, cutting-edge technology and diverse content libraries of Viacom18 and Star India will allow the JV to offer more appealing domestic and global entertainment content and sports live streaming services, while delivering an innovative and convenient digital entertainment experience at affordable prices. With the addition of Disney’s acclaimed films and shows to Viacom18’s renowned productions and sports offerings, the JV will offer a compelling, accessible and novel digital-focused entertainment experience to people in India and the Indian diaspora globally.

In an ordered passed on May 15, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai bench approved the amalgamation of Novi Digital Entertainment (Disney+Hotstar) with Star India. Hotstar is an online video streaming platform owned by Novi Digital Entertainment Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Star India Private Limited.

The hearing had been postponed by the NCLT to March 27. Earlier, the hearing had been set to take place on February 21 after the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS), told the NCLT that its plea against the February 9 order was being held in judgement by the NCLAT.

The NCLT on Feb 9, rejected the IPRS’s plea questioning the legality of the arrangement between Star India and Novi Digital Entertainment. The IPRS had claimed that both parties, Star and Novi Digital had moved ahead with the merger scheme without seeking its approval. IPRS is an unsecured creditor to both entities.

The main objective of this merger is a strategic realignment of operations in streaming, broadcasting, and distribution. In their submission to the NCLT, Star and Novi emphasized that the consolidation aims to achieve economies of scale, enhance operational efficiencies, prioritize growth, optimize resource utilization, and reduce costs.


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/how-it-works/star-india-and-novi-digital-merger-hearing-postponed-by-nclt-to-march-27-24961.htm">Star India and Novi Digital merger hearing postponed by NCLT to March 27</a>

NCLT approves amalgamation of Novi Digital Entertainment with Star India

Forty Indian startups have come out strongly in support of the draft Digital Competition Bill which proposes ex-ante regulations to curb anti-competitive practices of Big Tech companies. These startups which include prominent names like Matrimony.com, TrulyMadly, Innov8, QuackQuack, Magicbricks, Hoichoi, Medibuddy etc. have written to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs saying that the Bill is a step in the right direction and it will address long-standing concerns of Indian startups to rein in practices which stifle innovation, limit consumer choice, and hinder the growth of young businesses.

While requesting that the government move forward with the Bill at the earliest and not give in to delay tactics, the startups have also asked for an upward revision of the thresholds for designating Systematically Significant Digital Enterprises (SSDEs). In a letter to MCA, they have argued that the Bill should only target the real gatekeepers of the internet - firms that have long enjoyed dominant positions, accumulating extensive resources, and influence to shape the rules of the digital ecosystem. By narrowly targeting the new law, the government can rein in monopolistic practices while making sure that Indian startups have the space to grow within India and beyond Indian borders, to compete globally. 

The Committee on Digital Competition Law (CDCL) published its report in March this year outlining the challenges associated with anti-competitive practices of digital enterprises such as anti-steering, self-preferencing, tying and bundling in the digital markets in India. The report proposed a Digital Competition Bill providing for ex-ante regulations to curb these anti-competitive practices. The report was open for public consultation and the last date for submission of comments was 15th May 2024.

The letter stated-

"India has maintained its position as the third-largest tech start-up ecosystem worldwide. Over 950 tech start-ups were established in India last year alone.2 The cumulative funding for more than 31,000 tech start-ups has surpassed $70 billion from 2019 to 2023.3 It is clear that incorporating the voice of start-ups in shaping the digital competition law is crucial because these entities are reflective of the needs and realities of the tech landscape in the country today."

The proposed Digital Competition Bill (DCB) outlined in the CDCL report resonates deeply with the startup community. We perceive it as a forward-thinking piece of legislation that directly addresses our long-standing concerns regarding monopolistic practices by dominant digital platforms. These practices have often stifled innovation, limited consumer choice, and hindered the growth of young businesses. The Digital Competition Bill, with its focus on ex-ante regulations, has the potential to be a game-changer for the Indian start-up ecosystem. 

While we fully support the draft Bill, we propose a key revision regarding the thresholds for designating Significant Strategic Digital Entities (SSDEs). Our concern is that the current thresholds are low, and they are likely to – perhaps, inadvertently - encompass startups and other digital enterprises which are not gatekeepers. The gatekeeper companies ideally being targeted by the DCB have long enjoyed dominant positions, accumulating extensive resources, brand recognition, and influence over the digital ecosystem. Their entrenched status enables them to shape the rules of the game to their advantage. In contrast, start-ups and other digital enterprises -even if they meet the financial thresholds - are fundamentally different. These are young companies still establishing their product, user base, and navigating a complex market shaped by gatekeeper companies. Consequently, designating start-ups as SSDEs under the Act could impose unwarranted regulatory burdens, hindering their growth and competitiveness. This could in fact further undermine the objective of the Bill by restricting competition, instead of increasing it. It could also severely hamper the growth potential of Indian startups and impede their ability to grow beyond Indian borders to compete globally.

To this end, we have suggested an increase in the financial thresholds and also provided numbers for end-user and business-user count that would better reflect the realities of the Indian start-up ecosystem.

Request to Move Forward Without Further Delay

We also urge the MCA to move forward with the Bill at the earliest and not give in to further requests for extensions in the consultation period. We believe the current consultation period has been more than sufficient.

The CDCL has already undertaken a year-long process to evaluate the need for the DCB. This process involved consultations with various stakeholders, including industry experts, legal professionals, and public interest groups. Granting another long extension will serve no further purpose other than submitting to delay tactics being employed by Big Tech companies who want to stall the implementation of the Bill."

Start-ups supporting the bill include: 

1. Murugavel Janakiraman, Founder & MD, Matrimony.com

2. Vinay Singhal, Co-Founder & CEO, STAGE 

3. Snehil Khanor - founder and CEO, TrulyMadly

4. Satish Kannan, Co-founder CEO, MediBuddy

5. Anand Virani, Founder and Chairman, Cutting Chai Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

6. Ajay Data, MD - Data Group of Industries, Chair - FICCI Multilingual and UA committee

7. Pawan Agarwal, Dy MD, DB CORP ltd

8. Srinivasan B, Managing Director, Ananda Vikatan Digital Private Limited.

9. Ravi Mittal, Founder and CEO, QuackQuack (Verve Mobile Pvt Ltd)

10. Shruti, Founder, Apnaklub

11. Srinivas Kollipara, Managing Partner, Biome Venture Studio, CEO of T-Hub, Hyderabad

12. Vishnu Moha, Co-founder, Hoichoi

13. Sudhir Pai, CEO, MagicBricks

14. Sriram Subramanya, Managing Director and CEO @ Integra Software Services Private Ltd, Chairman - NASSCOM, National SME Council

15. Ganesh N Mandalam, Founder and CEO, Xerago

16. Ritesh Malik, Founder, Innov8

17. Arokiaswamy Velumani, Founder, Thyrocare Technologies Ltd

40 Indian Startups urge MCA to move forward with Digital Competition Bill; 'not give in to delaying tactics by Big Tech'

Alia Bhatt’s name has been added to a ‘Blackout List’, post her appearance at this year’s Met Gala on May 6 and at the Gucci Cruise Show 2025 in London on May 13. 

Bhatt has been accused of being “complicit” for being silent on the on-going humanitarian crisis in Gaza and not speaking about the Israel-Gaza conflict. 

The ‘blackout list’ is a social media boycott of sorts. Social media users have been pointing out celebrities and calling them out for not taking a stand against the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The ‘blackout’ is an attempt to force celebrities into taking a stand. 

As part of the ‘blackout’, users personally block certain celebrities accounts across X, TikTok and Instagram, as a result of which they are then unable to see their posts, photos or videos and collaborations with sponsors. 

On social media, it’s the number of people who interact with the content posted that brings in the money. Hence, the blocks are meant to affect views, engagement and effectively the pay-checks.  

Some users have even posted about the celebrities that they have blocked using tags - #blockout, #blockout2024, or #celebrityblockout. Users participating in the ‘blackout’ say it’s a protest because these celebrities have either not spoken or haven’t said enough against Israel’s actions in Gaza during its war with Hamas. 



Alia Bhatt added to social media 'celebrity blackout list'

The National Broadcasting Policy(NBP) proposed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) has been sparking debate among stakeholders. While the policy focuses on growth of the broadcasting sector, stakeholders have concerns about several recommendations including convergence, piracy and the inclusion of OTT services. 


During an open house discussion on April 15, stakeholders were divided on the idea of convergence. Some participants argued that technological convergence doesn't necessitate regulatory convergence, advocating for separate frameworks for different sectors. Others, however, believed convergence is the only way forward and that regulations should adapt to reflect the changing landscape.


Airtel that had already mentioned in their earlier submission to the regulator reiterated their stance on the NBP. According to them, NBP must acknowledge convergence in broadcast regulations and ensure that the regulatory framework includes all modes of delivery of broadcast content across all platforms – at the same price – irrespective of technology.


“The policy should amend the current regulatory framework to ensure any platform which offers similar content as offered by the regulated distribution platform, should equally be brought under a similar regulatory regime – irrespective of technology,” they had said. 


“TRAI itself acknowledges the convergence of technologies in this consultation paper. However, current regulations haven't kept pace with this convergence. This mismatch creates problems like violations of various policies like the downlinking policy, cross-holding restrictions and an incomplete licensing regime,” said Rahul Vatts, chief regulatory officer of Bharti Airtel.

Another point made by Vatts concerns OTT services. 

According to him, while stakeholders’ recognises the distinction between push vs. pull type of service, convergence allows access to the same content across various mediums, as acknowledged by consumer bodies and other speakers. While mediums like DTH, IPTV, and cable are tightly regulated, others lack regulation entirely. Therefore, achieving regulatory parity across mediums delivering the same content, regardless of technology, is crucial.

According to Gururaja Rao, principal legal counsel at Sony Pictures Networks bundling of services like TV, broadband and voice into one does not imply that the services have converged. Such offering only enables the service provider to provide multiple services as a bundle offering any service within the side bundle. 

Rao also touched upon the piracy issue among other things. 

“Broadcasting is a content driven industry and it is important to prioritise protection for the intellectual property. There is an urgent need to create a regulatory framework to address, clarify and resolve content protection issues that stem from the Conditional Access System, Subscriber Management System, Set-top Boxes, Digital Rights and others,” he said.


Broadband India Forum’s Debashish Bhattacharya on the other hand advocated for broadcasting policy restricting its coverage to the broadcasting sector and exclude the OTT services from its scope,


“The OTT services are not in part of the broadcasting ecosystem since they are functionally distinct from television and radio broadcasting that involves a combination of carriage and content,” he said. 


He also shared his perspective on the argument that television is a push based medium and consumers view content at the time and schedule decided by the broadcaster while OTT is a pull medium where consumers decide on factors like time and content.


“Infrastructure for broadcasting and OTT services are also distinct and require distinctly unique policy and regulatory oversight. The television broadcasting and TV markets are also at different stages of development, while the OTT is the sunrise sector with potential for growth and in a position to contribute positively towards India's digital economy, as has been shown in a number of reports which have been published.It needs a growth oriented, forward-looking policy approach. On the other hand the television broadcasting requires a long term policy coupled with a growth oriented action plan for the overall growth of the sector,” he added.


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/how-it-works/there-should-be-only-one-agency-not-multiple-agencies-for-measurement-ibdf-31661.htm">The should be just one agency for TV Ratings: IBDF opposes multiple measurement bodies</a>

Indian Broadcasting Policy: Stakeholders debate convergence and regulations at TRAI open house

The Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) opposes the idea of any new TV audience measurement firms and advocates for the current BARC(Broadcast Audience Research Council) system to suffice. IBDF raised concerns during a TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) open house meeting on the National Broadcast Policy, warning of potential issues with additional companies.



According to IBDF secret general Siddharth Jain (IBDF), TRAI's involvement in content regulation and then content measurement oversteps its boundaries. 



“Measuring viewership for linear TV and OTT platforms requires completely different metrics,” he said. 



“BARC was formed by the instruction of a parliamentary committee. And the three stakeholders involved, which are advertisers, advertising agencies and the broadcasters,” he added.

Jain explained how measurement works for  BARC. 





TV viewership measurement relies on two main methods, the first being sensor-based and the sample-based. Most countries use the sample-based method because sensor technology, while possible, is expensive and complex to implement. Some argue for collecting data directly from set-top boxes (STBs) using a return path. However, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) instructed BARC to conduct trials with DPOs (Distribution Platform Operators) for this method. This raised concerns about data manipulation. DPOs might skew data to favour specific metrics, potentially favoring certain cable or DTH providers or distorting language preferences.



“BARC is actively increasing the number of sample boxes to improve data accuracy on the linear TV side.Introducing multiple measurement agencies would create complications.There should be only one agency not multiple agencies,” he added. 





Even in their earlier submission, the body had written to TRAI advocating how for TV, the existing mechanism as recognised and registered under the MIB’s guidelines and led by the industry through the BARC has been reviewed and works well.





“There is no need for any policy or regulatory changes,” the submission had said.

Prasar Bharati extends deadline for OTT platform’s marketing agency bid submission

The e-tender floated on April 19 invited bids from pre-approved DAVP (CBC) multimedia and media sales agencies for a Rs. 4 crore contract (including taxes).

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