Factual
Discovery Asia partners VS Media & Tabilabo
MUMBAI: Discovery Networks Asia Pacific has announced two new partnerships across Asia, with VS Media – a top MultiChannel Network (MCN) that super-serves digital natives in Greater China with more than 120 million subscribers and 320 million video views a month, and Tabilabo – one of the leading and rapidly growing digital media businesses in Japan.
These initiatives are in keeping with Discovery’s ambitions to transform and accelerate its big growth across Asia Pacific, by providing access to amazing content that is being truly customised for “mobile-first” millennial audiences.
Last August, Discovery took a minority investment in VS Media. Together, they are now launching TAN BA, a unique digital brand solution specifically targeting millennials, that make up over a quarter of the Chinese population. TAN BA aims to deliver smart entertainment through highly customised short-form video content that stimulates curiosity and new learning every day.
Content is sourced exclusively from Discovery’s extensive global catalogue and localised by VS Media to deliver an unrivalled short-form, digital-video solution with a multi-genre focus including Health & Wellness, Science & Technology, Travel & Lifestyle, Art & Fashion, History, and Nature. These specially crafted videos will be distributed across the most popular online / social platforms in China including Bilibili, Eyepitizer, Meipai, Miaopao, Pear Video, Penguin, QQ, Toutiao, WeChat, Weibo, and Youku as well as Facebook and YouTube across other markets in Asia.
Established in 2014, Tabilabo is a rapidly expanding digital media business, which has over nine million monthly active users and delivers high quality lifestyle-centric content. Tabilabo’s proven expertise in creating content that engages audiences across social and mobile platforms. The partnership between Discovery and Tabilabo includes a commercial agreement that will enable collaboration to bring solutions to advertisers to reach their desired audience via true 360 opportunities across linear, digital, and on social platforms leveraging Tabilabo’s innovative advertising technology and formats, and Discovery’s world-class stable of advertisers.
“I am thrilled to officially launch the first of many exciting initiatives with Discovery. Tan Ba delivers unique, highly engaging and truly compelling content in a breakthrough format – that has been developed with our local creators and designed specifically for digital savvy, millennial audiences,” said VS Media founder & CEO Ivy Wong.
“During beta testing, Tanba generated over 120 million unique views in less than a month with no marketing at all. The average views per video exceeded 2 million. This is exciting, especially as we look to create new engagement opportunities for audiences and our valued sponsor communities.”
Tabilabo CEO Shotaro Kushi said, “We are thrilled to partner with Discovery Networks to launch the industry’s first premium video advertising solution across both digital and linear platforms. Through this endeavor, we will be able to drive higher engagement amongst Japanese audiences by focusing on media brands and world-class content quality that cannot be realized only with digital–targeted marketing alone.”
“These exciting digital-first initiatives are the first steps in Discovery’s long-term strategy to accelerate our growth in Asia with digital at the core,” said Discovery Asia president & MD Arthur Bastings.
“We are deeply committed to engaging more viewers across more screens than ever before, building our presence on new platforms and attracting young passionate communities that advertisers want to reach with unique branded content opportunities through VS Media and Tabilabo’s extensive networks and strong base of millennial audiences.”
Factual
Kumar Mangalam Birla makes KBC debut with Amitabh Bachchan
MUMBAI: India’s most famous hot seat is about to welcome an unlikely first-timer. For the first time on Hindi general entertainment television, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla will appear on Kaun Banega Crorepati, the iconic quiz show hosted by Amitabh Bachchan.
The special episode marks a rare meeting point of boardroom heft and prime-time television, bringing one of India’s most influential business leaders face to face with the country’s most enduring screen legend. It is a crossover that blends intellect, leadership and popular culture, all under KBC’s familiar spotlight.
Birla’s appearance dovetails neatly with the show’s current theme, Jahaan Akal Hai, Wahan Akad Hai, which celebrates the confidence that comes from clarity of thought and knowledge. His presence lends weight to the idea that sharp thinking and conviction are as vital in life as they are in the quiz chair.
In a thoughtful conversation with Bachchan, Birla shared an upbeat view of India’s economic journey, pointing to the nation’s rapid growth and the scale of opportunity opening up across industries and communities. He spoke of momentum, ambition and a future shaped by enterprise and ideas.
The episode is not all serious talk. In lighter moments, Birla confessed his long-standing admiration for Bachchan, calling him his favourite actor and admitting to a touch of nervousness at answering questions in front of the Shahenshah himself. The candour adds a human touch to a man more often seen in headlines than on television sets.
The special episode airs on Monday, 29 December at 9.00 pm on Sony Entertainment Television and Sony LIV.
Factual
Rocky heats up NCR as Road Trippin returns with winter bites
MUMBAI: Winter’s bite just got tastier. Road Trippin With Rocky is back for its 15th season, with Rocky Singh rolling through the NCR to plate up comfort food, cult favourites and cold-weather cravings from 27 to 30 December.
The four-day journey opens in Noida, where Rocky kicks off with the much-loved Jain Tikki Wala in Sector 27 before wrapping the day at the always-humming Social. Faridabad follows, with stops shaped by local recommendations, while Gurugram brings a balance of indulgence and restraint from a standout vegetarian spread to smoky carnivore fare at The Pit, finished with Thai flavours at Banng.
Saving the grand finale for Delhi, Rocky dives into the capital’s contrasts from humble roadside falahar to refined fine-dining tables that define New Delhi’s evolving food scene. The promise is simple: honest recommendations that belong on every serious food lover’s list.
Over the years, #RoadTrippin has grown into one of HistoryTV18’s most successful digital-first properties. Built for viewers who snack on content on the move, the format’s easy humour, spontaneity and conversational style have kept audiences coming back season after season.
The numbers underline its pull. Across platforms, the franchise has clocked over 2 billion impressions and more than 550 million video views, turning each new season into a highly anticipated return.
Season 15 of #RoadTrippinWithRocky will play out across HistoryTV18’s and Rocky’s social media handles, a winter road trip that proves once again that in NCR, the cold only makes the food hotter.
Factual
Street of Stories Warner Bros doc amplifies GB Road’s unheard voices
MUMBAI: The cries may have gone unheard, but the stories now refuse to stay silent. Warner Bros. Discovery and Times Network have come together to shine a piercing, humanising light on Delhi’s GB Road, one of India’s most stigmatised spaces with Unheard Cries at GB Road, a documentary that trades sensationalism for truth, and myth for lived reality. The film premiered on 17 November 2025 on discovery+, offering rare, unfiltered access to a world long discussed but rarely listened to.
Crafted under Times Now Studios and shaped by producer and co-writer Rohit Chadda, the documentary draws on over 50 in-depth interviews with survivors, sex workers, police officials, social workers and experts. Instead of dramatisation or stylised retellings, the film builds itself on first-hand accounts bringing to the fore women whose lives have often been spoken about, yet scarcely spoken to.
At its heart, Unheard Cries at GB Road is a testament to the women who battle cycles of trauma, exploitation and coercion, while still searching for small, stubborn pockets of hope. Their accounts, delivered on record and often at great personal risk, reveal the emotional, physical and psychological landscapes of a district too frequently flattened by stereotype.
Warner Bros. Discovery, head of factual entertainment, lifestyle & kids for South Asia,Sai Abishek said the project demanded both courage and care. “Unheard Cries at GB Road is a story that demands to be seen and heard. Factual storytelling carries responsibility, and this film embodies that commitment. By giving these women the space to speak for themselves, the documentary brings rare honesty and emotional depth to a subject too often misunderstood.”
The production team gained access to the interiors of brothels, capturing the quiet routines, the harsh constraints and the precarious negotiations that shape daily life. Insights from the Delhi Police, NGO workers and legal experts situate these personal stories within the larger systems of trafficking, safety failures and legal gaps that the women must navigate.
Rohit Chadda said, “We made this film to confront a truth that has long remained ignored. Our commitment from the very beginning was to tell these stories with honesty, dignity, and responsibility – and we hope it resonates deeply enough to spark reflection, conversation, and a sense of hope, which results in long term change. Unheard Cries at GB Road is the first production under the banner of Times Now Studios, and we intend to build on this foundation by creating more meaningful, purpose-driven stories that deserve a platform and a voice.”
“This special documentary, produced under Times Now Studios and directed by Rohit Chadda and Yatharth Chauhan, is built on more than 50 in-depth interviews.”
While the documentary does not attempt to provide simple solutions, it offers something more vital, a vantage point grounded in truth. By presenting the voices of women who endure the unseen and the unimaginable on a daily basis, the film asks viewers to confront the complexity of GB Road with empathy rather than judgement.
Unheard Cries at GB Road is streaming now on discovery+, inviting the nation to listen truly listen to stories that can no longer remain in the shadows.
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