Mumbai: Aaj Tak, a Hindi news channel, has unveiled Vertical TV, a first-of-its-kind broadcast technology platform that fundamentally reimagines how live television is produced, processed and experienced on devices. More than a new viewing format, Vertical TV represents a technological leap in live news delivery, making Aaj Tak the first Hindi news channel and the first broadcaster in India to deploy an AI-powered, real-time adaptive vertical television experience at scale.
At the heart of Vertical TV lies a proprietary technology stack built around real-time adaptive vertical reframing, pixel reconfiguration, immersive AI, and intelligent visual orchestration. Aaj Tak’s system dynamically analyses every frame of a live broadcast and automatically restructures it for vertical consumption as events unfold.
The platform leverages advanced auto-reframing technology trained on more than five years of viewer behaviour, content consumption patterns and screen engagement data. This enables the system to intelligently identify focal points within a live broadcast, whether it is an anchor, a reporter on the ground, a key visual, a graphic or breaking news element—and continuously adapt the frame in real time to ensure viewers never miss the most important information.
A key innovation powering the experience is Aaj Tak’s intelligent visual composition engine, which enables multiple content layers to coexist within a single vertical screen. Through dynamic layouts and pixel-level optimisation, the system reorganises live television elements into a format that feels native to mobile devices while preserving editorial context and visual clarity.
The technology further employs adaptive auto-reframing and pixel reconfiguration, allowing live broadcasts originally designed for horizontal television screens to be transformed into immersive vertical experiences without compromising storytelling, graphics, data visualisation or production quality. The result is a richer and more information-dense viewing environment that maximises every inch of smartphone screen real estate.
Designed around principles of human comfort-led interface, Vertical TV draws inspiration from natural eye movement and viewing behaviour. The experience has been engineered to align with how users instinctively hold, scan and consume content on smartphones, reducing friction and creating a more intuitive viewing journey.
Available on the Aaj Tak App and Aaj Tak’s YouTube channel, Vertical TV represents the convergence of artificial intelligence, broadcast engineering and user experience design. It transforms live television from a format adapted for mobile into one created specifically for mobile.
Commenting on the launch,
Vice Chairperson and Executive Editor-in-Chief, India Today Group, said, “Every major shift in media consumption demands a corresponding shift in technology. Vertical TV is the result of years of innovation, experimentation and learning around how audiences engage with news on mobile devices. By combining AI-driven reframing and consumer behaviour insight, we have created another new future ready format for Aaj Tak.”
With Vertical TV, Aaj Tak is setting a new benchmark for live news broadcasting, demonstrating how artificial intelligence and advanced broadcast technologies can work together to create more intuitive, immersive and engaging experiences for audiences. As mobile screens continue to become the primary gateway to information, Vertical TV marks the beginning of a new chapter in the evolution of television itself.
