Jist is a digital news and entertainment company that curates and creates original video content, in both short and long format. With its slate of infotainment content, Jist seeks to make news simple, fun and accessible for its 5 mn+ community of millennials and Gen Z audience. Jist claims that since its launch in January 2023, its videos have accumulated 1.2 billion views thus far, with a total reach of 3.5 billion. It disseminates content through its social handles.
Jist was founded by Rishi Pratim Mukherjee (co-founder, CEO), Sattvik Mishra (co-founder), and Nitin Narang (co-founder). Medianews4u.com caught up with Rishi Pratim Mukherjee, co-founder, CEO – Jist
Q. What was the gap seen in the marketplace that prompted the launch of Jist?
Jist (India), is a digital news and entertainment company that creates videos to explain the world to young, curious audiences – particularly millennials and gen z. Our platform aims to empower users through accessible, authentic, engaging, and informative video content. With a dedicated team of 40+ talented individuals, we consistently produce 250+ original videos per month, catering to the preferences of audiences who have a penchant for video content consumption.
Our primary focus is to cater the audiences who have a preference for video content consumption. Over the past year, our social media channels including Facebook, Instagram and X have reached 1.2 billion views per year and amassed 5 million followers. This tremendous growth is a testament that there is a growing audience for meaningful content that is merely not serving news in a static manner but providing genuine value by making sense of the news cacophony surrounding today’s digital natives. This overwhelming response gives us the confidence to keep making content for our audience and continue to reimagine storytelling via multiple digital formats.
We are dedicated to providing high-quality, engaging video content that informs, inspires, and entertains our audience while upholding our core values of information, innovation, and authenticity.
Q. What is the business model of Jist?
Jist operates on a digital content business model, focusing on curating and creating original video content in both short and long formats. Targeting a community of over 5 million Millennials and Gen Z followers, Jist produces infotainment content that makes news simple, fun, and accessible. Since its launch in January 2023, Jist has garnered 1.2 billion views and a reach of 3.5 billion (in 2023 alone). Jist is currently leveraging branded content partnerships. Jist has begun taking nascent steps in monetising its content by partnering with marquee brands like Invideo AI, Iqoo, Baazi Games, JB Power Consultants, and Rockford (Modi Illva India Pvt. Ltd.).
Q. What targets have been set for 2024 in terms of revenue growth, viewer engagement etc?
We invest in creating unique, authentic, engaging and high quality content that caters to the diverse needs and interests of our audience eg – entertainment, lifestyle, politics, economy and sports among others. The platform reached a significant milestone in 2023, surpassing 1.2 billion views across its social platforms, and are thrilled to see the continued growth in viewership throughout the year. We are committed to meeting the evolving preferences of our viewers by providing them a seamless and enriching experience on the devices of their choice.
Also, monetisation is a crucial aspect of any platform. As mentioned above, Jist is currently leveraging branded content partnerships. It has begun taking nascent steps in monetising its content by partnering with marquee brands like Invideo AI, Iqoo, Baazi Games, JB Power Consultants, and Rockford (Modi Illva India Pvt. Ltd.).
Q. How are digital content consumption preferences changing and evolving among Gen Z and millennials?
In recent years, there has been a notable transformation in the content consumption pattern of the youth in India, particularly for news and entertainment. According to a report by Global data company YouGov, young consumers between 25-34 years will be driving streaming growth in India. As consumer content consumption patterns continue to evolve, we at Jist News are committed to adapting our content creation approach including leveraging innovative digital storytelling formats, enhancing our presence on social media platforms, and exploring opportunities in the growing streaming market to deliver engaging and relevant content that resonates with our audience.
Our focus is on providing editorially curated news content that offers perspective and important contextual cues, making sense of the noise for our audience in a language and format native to their digital experience, ensuring both relevance and engagement.
Ensuring the authenticity of information is paramount to us. Our editorial team led by Mr. Rahul Shrivastava, who comes with decades of experience in esteemed news organisations like NDTV and India Today, upholds classical fact-checking and journalistic rigour to meet the highest standards of credibility and reliability.Our editorial team is mentored and moulded constantly to present content that meets the highest journalistic standards.
While entertainment content, especially scripted fiction, remains popular among Indian youth, there is a noticeable shift towards consuming more informative and issue-driven content. This indicates a growing interest among the youth in understanding and engaging with important social, political, and cultural issues.
The rise of over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms has transformed the way Indian youth consume entertainment, with on-demand viewing becoming the norm over traditional appointment-based TV watching.
We prioritise quality engagement metrics over mere quantitative indicators. Metrics such as organic views, video completion rates, average watch time, and the quality of user comments are considered more meaningful in assessing the effectiveness and impact of its content on the audience.
We recognise this shift in preferences and strive to provide content that not only entertains but also informs and educates its audience. By delivering well-researched, authentic, and digestible news content, Jist News aims to simplify complex topics and make them more accessible to the digitally savvy youth.
Q. Is the future of news media digital or does linear broadcast still have an important role among this TG?
The field of journalism has undergone a significant transformation over the past few years. With the rise of digital media, traditional journalism has adopted new forms of storytelling and reporting. Viewers on linear TV have limited control over the viewing experience. On the other hand, digital media has increased the importance of data-driven reporting as it allows consumers to share their opinions and raise concerns. Platforms like Jist, committed to offering high-quality, informative content that caters to the specific needs of Millennials and Gen Z, are empowering young audiences to navigate the ever-growing digital world.
Q. What are the new content formats emerging that Jist is leveraging?
Short-format videos are booming in India due to the younger generation’s tech-savvy nature and their constant quest for engaging content. In terms of social media platforms, Instagram has already embraced vertical videos with its Reels feature, which allows users to create and share short-format videos. We’re also leveraging this trend to create content specifically that resonates with our audience.
Our most produced content IP is Answered, an anchor-led, vertical format video explainer that is Reels first. Each video has an average duration of 120-240 seconds, focusing on crunching information on key topics trending in the news and connecting information dots for our audience, providing them with context of the topic. We handle the entire production process in-house, garnering 15 Million monthly views from this content alone.
In addition to this, all our original interviews – HotSpot (politicians), Townhall (actors, celebs), Spotlight (social media influencers) which are approximately an hour (for YouTube), are sliced into pithy highlight chunks for our Reels and Shorts section.
Q. How are you tackling the topic of the Elections?
Our team has been covering several political campaigns and updates and will continue to do so. Our focus is on providing comprehensive, real-time coverage that includes in-depth analysis, interviews with key personalities, and on-the-ground reporting. By leveraging our expertise, we ensure that our audience stays informed with in-depth content, making the updates around the elections accessible and understandable.
Q. Are short-form and long form videos equally important for Jist ?
At Jist, short-form and long-form videos are equally important. To keep our community of followers engaged and to attract new audiences, our content needs to be visible on all major touchpoints where genZ and millennials are consuming content today i.e. YouTube and Reels
Q. The company prioritises quality engagement metrics over mere quantitative indicators. Could you elaborate?
We are dedicated to providing high-quality, engaging video content that informs, inspires, and entertains our audience while upholding our core values of information, innovation, and authenticity.
We prioritise quality engagement metrics over mere quantitative indicators. Metrics such as organic views, video completion rates, average watch time, and the quality of user comments are considered more meaningful in assessing the effectiveness and impact of its content on the audience.
Q. Could you talk about the USP of IPs like Answered?
Our most produced content IP is Answered, helmed by in-house anchors Nimisha Wahi and Nishtha Pandey, vertical format video explainer that is Reels first. Each video has an average duration of 120-240 seconds, focusing on crunching information on key topics trending in the news and connecting information dots for our audience, providing them with context of the topic. We handle the entire production process in-house, garnering 15 Mn monthly views from this content alone.
Q. At the same time as AI grows so will fake news. How is Jist tackling this?
Ensuring the authenticity of information is paramount to us. Our editorial team led by Rahul Shrivastava, who comes with decades of experience in esteemed news organisations like NDTV and India Today, upholds classical fact-checking and journalistic rigour to meet the highest standards of credibility and reliability. Our editorial team is mentored and moulded constantly to present content that meets the highest journalistic standards.
Jist focus on providing editorially curated news content that offers perspective and important contextual cues, making sense of the noise for our audience in a language and format native to their digital experience, ensuring both relevance and engagement.
We strive to provide content that not only entertains but also informs and educates its audience. By delivering well-researched, authentic, and digestible news content, Jist News aims to simplify complex topics and make them more accessible to the digitally savvy youth.
Q. Besides news, does Jist focus on entertainment?
Our IP – Townhall, interview series, features celebrities from the entertainment industry(featured so far – Richa Chaddha, Bhumi Pednekar, Manoj Bajpayee, etc.).
It is one of our most popular formats and has rapidly gained traction and garnered 100+ million views over the past year.
Q. In how many languages does Jist provide content in and how will this be scaled up?
Our focus is on providing editorially curated news content that offers perspective and important contextual cues, making sense of the noise for our audience in a language and format native to their digital experience, ensuring both relevance and engagement. Currently, we are creating content in Hindi and English language.
