ITV

Tag: Zee Thirai

  • Channels curate special line-up for Valentine’s Day

    Channels curate special line-up for Valentine’s Day

    MUMBAI: Love comes in all shapes and sizes and between all kinds of people. On Valentine’s Day, channels celebrate this love with a special programming line-up for its viewers. From Hindi movie channels to regional GECs to music channels to English movies channels, each one of them pays a tribute to a variety of love.

    Hindi movie channels

    Hindi movie channels Zee Cinema, &Pictures, Colors Cineplex and Sony MAX2 have scheduled various movies for viewers throughout the day. Sony MAX2 has curated a line-up with a wide variety of films that are iconic and commemorate some of the most memorable love stories that fans can watch. The channel will air movies from 12-28 February to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Its line-up includes titles like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge which aired on 12 February, Deewana airs on 14 February, Karan Arjun on 21 February, Akhiyon Se Goli Maare on 22 February and Heer Ranjha on 28 February.

    On 14 February, kickstarting the day with a treasure trove of heart-warming movies, &pictures with its special segment ‘Loveistaan’ will showcase the magic of new age love stories that are bordering on insanity and unimaginable passion with inconceivable limits that tests true love. From the caring husband like Laxmikant in Padman, to Madhav proving his love to his Half Girlfriend, &pictures will put together a pyaar and passion ka combination in its day long festival, 9.30 am onwards. Loveistaan: a day-long movie festival will air Padman at 9.30 am, Jabariya Jodi at 12 pm, LoveYatri at 3 pm, Kedarnath at 5.45 pm, Zero at 8 pm and Half Girlfriend at 11 pm. The channel will also air Dream Girl on 15 February at 8 pm.

    To celebrate Valentine’s Day, Zee Cinema has scheduled a World Television Premiere ‘Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas’ at 8 pm. Colors Cineplex is doing a Loveria Festival on Valentine's Day wherein the stars of Love Aaj Kal – Kartik Aaryan and Sara Ali Khan also shot a promo. It was a weeklong movie festival and showcased popular movies like Inspector Vijay, Magadheera, Bajirao Mastani, Garam and Manmadhudhu 2 to name a few. On 14 February the channel will bring a World Television Premiere of Dove, along with titles like The Super Khiladi 2, Dangerous Khiladi 3, Gabbar is Back, and Manmadhudu 2.

    English Movie Channels

    Zee English cluster celebrates the emotion that needs to language and the feeling that makes the world go round with a special line-up of blockbuster movies curated for the day. Zee Café, &flix and &PrivéHD are each set to present a day-long binge on 14 February 2020.

    &flix brings a collection of top-rated Hollywood hits with ‘The Things You Do For Love’. The day-long binge starting 9 am, includes the biggest and most-acclaimed movies such as the Wall-E, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Passengers and the sci-fi delight A-X-L among others.

    Adding a dash of romance to the day is the exciting line-up of Valentine’s Day special movies on Zee Café. The titles include Academy Award-winning movies such as Ratatouille and Slumdog Millionnaire along with celebrated rom-coms like How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, She Is Out Of My League and Playing It Cool, 8 am onwards.

    &PrivéHD, the premium destination of nuanced cinema is set to turn hearts to mush as it encourages viewers to feel the love, all day long with heart-warming movies as part of ‘Love All Day’ starting 9 am onwards. The line-up includes tales that explore the unconventional and unravel the other side of love, obsession and infatuation with titles such as Juliet, Naked, The New Romantic, The Seagull among others.

    Star Movies and Star Movies HD will air The Incredibles-2; Disney's Jungle Book, Titanic and Cinderella on 14 February. Star Movies Select and Star Movies Select HD will bring The Book of Life starring Channing Tatum, Zoe Saldana, Diego Luna at 3 pm.

    Regional Channels

    Colors Bangla has a Valentine’s Day special episodes in Kanak Kakan and Chirodini Ami Je Tomar. For its viewers Zee Thirai will air a world television premiere of Yen Aalodu Seruppu Kanum at 7 pm. Zee Cinemalu will be seen running a special line-up through the day, the channel will air Lovers at 7 am, Ye Maaye Chesave at 9 am, Rarandoi Veduka Chuddam at 12 pm, Hello at 3.30 pm, Mr. Majnu at 6:30 pm and Student No.1 at 9 pm.

    Music Channels

    The music channels will play the lists of top romantic songs throughout the day on their channels but apart from that Vh1 celebrates the day of love with couples and their #SignificantThird through a special contest. The channel has also come-up with a contest where viewers can participate in fun engagement by clicking on the Instagram link

    , tag their bae, their third-wheel and tell Vh1 why he/she is the couple's ‘Significant Third’.

    On 14 February, viewers can reminisce and take a look back at 50 of the best and most romantic love songs from this decade that mesmerized everyone on – ‘Vh1 top 50 love songs of the decade’ at 12pm & 5pm.

    MTV has also released its brand films on Valentine's Day. In its newly released brand film, couples from all walks of life engage in everyday arguments and conversations, something as relatable as couples fighting over eating on the bed, or ordering food from outside, not spending enough time with each other- only to prove that problems are as necessary to love as love is to life. The film shows how fights and arguments are normal for every couple on a regular basis, in the cutest way. But in the end, no matter what happens or even if the argument reaches a crescendo, love conquers all. These tiffs give you a sneak peek into the daily lives of the couples, irrespective of any limitation.

  • Zee Thirai to fulfil demand for content and star-driven movies

    Zee Thirai to fulfil demand for content and star-driven movies

    MUMBAI: Zee has covered most of the regional space with its GEC and movie channels. With the launch of Zee Thirai it strengthened its footprint in the southern market. Unveiling the plans and programming strategies for the channel to have strong consumer pull in Tamil market, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) South Cluster Head Siju Prabhakaran says, “Our commitment is to keep ourselves in-line with the demand for content driven or star driven movies in that market.”

    He further says, “The ability to differentiate viewers by offering brand propositions and our engagement with audiences, are what we believe will make us stand apart from other players and help us garner viewership share.”

    Zee Thirai has 400 plus library strength and it will aggressively acquire movies from time to time both star-driven and content-driven. The library would be shared between Zee Tamil and Zee Thirai but there will be big movies which might air on Zee Tamil first and then come to Zee Thirai or there could be certain movies which might premiere only on Zee Thirai.

    “We believe in the regional market and specifically in southern market which is very strong. Otherwise we would not be investing in it. These are growing markets and there is tremendous scope for us to grow in this market too,” says Prabhakaran.

    He also informs, “Through our brand we are trying to communicate that we will celebrate Tamil cinema in the best possible way and this celebration will extent to the channel's offering. Every week there will be new premiere and this is a first of its kind that any regional channel is offering.”

    Viewership trends in southern market is different from other markets. The audiences in this market consumes more content in the morning and afternoon. To grab maximum eyeballs from those slots, Zee Thirai has strategised by offering a breakless movie slot in the afternoon and in the morning slot it will show classical movies from yesteryear.

    “All these product offerings make Zee Thirai very interesting. It is available on all leading DTH operator/ players and lot of cable operators are carrying it. In fact, those who have not carried it yet are getting constant enquiries,” says Prabhakaran.

    The channel is looking at both advertising and subscription-driven revenue models. “We have just launched the channel and I am sure once the audience build up happens, advertisers will follow but it’s very important that we get the product right first. If the consumer pull is created, advertisers are always willing to support brands which build consumer base.”

    Tamil is one of the largest regional markets in our country and movie as a space is the second largest genre after general entertainment. Movie channels specifically contribute around 12 per cent viewership. With the increase in the number of movies released in the theatre, it is a value proposition for the broadcasters to have movie channels. Movie viewership has also grown on the television.

    He opines, “In Tamil Nadu, we have been growing from strength to strength in the last 3 to 4 years. We are able to establish ourselves as a strong number two channel in market. In a market where there are difficulties but we have managed to get very strong viewership, it gives us confidence to launch other channels.”

    Prabhakaran also hopes by the end of the 12 months, Zee Thirai becomes a strong brand. “We definitely want to be amongst the movie watching audience. We want to be able to capture the minds of our audience,” he concludes.

  • ZEE launches Tamil movie channel -Zee Thirai at Zee Cine Awards Tamil 2020

    ZEE launches Tamil movie channel -Zee Thirai at Zee Cine Awards Tamil 2020

    MUMBAI: The first ever Zee Cine Awards Tamil 2020 held on the 4th of January was a celebration of Tamil cinema with Zee Tamil honouring the talent that has revolutionized the industry. Amidst the grandeur, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) officially announced its entry into the Tamil Film Entertainment space with a new movie channel – Zee Thirai. The new channel is the sixth channel in the Southern region by the network and the second movie channel in the south after Zee Cinemalu.

    The announcement was made during the momentous occasion by Mr Punit Mishra, CEO- Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (India Broadcast Business) along with the emperor of Tamil Cinema- Dr Kamal Hassan. While Mr Mishra thanked the audience for their immense love and support towards Zee Tamil and dedicated the new channel to the people of Tamil Nadu, Kamal Hassan officiated the launch of Zee Thirai with a clapboard to an ecstatic audience.

    Zee Thirai, a movie channel dedicated to Tamil cinema enthusiasts, is set to resonate with the pulse of Tamilians and their love for cinema that has deep cultural and social context in the lives of Tamilians around the world. The brand tagline – “Rathathil Kalandhadhu Cinema” which literally translates to “Cinema is infused in our blood” represents the passion and impact that movies have on the Tamil Market and the power that it has to inspire the dreams and visions of the common man.

    Zee Thirai is the Tamil Film Entertainment Channel of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL). Launching in Q4 FY 19-20, Zee Thirai is set to emerge as the one-stop destination for fans of Tamil Cinema across the world. With a strong library of over 400+ films across genres such as horror, comedy, action-thriller, drama and so on, the channel aims to change the conversation from the ‘what’ to the ‘why’ of cinema.

  • Zee seeks to tap into regional opportunity with four new language channels

    Zee seeks to tap into regional opportunity with four new language channels

    MUMBAI: Expanding its regional footprint further, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) on Thursday announced four new regional channels — Zee Punjabi (GEC channel) and three movie channels Zee Biskope (Bhojpuri), Zee Thirai (Tamil) and Zee Picchar (Kannada).

    Zee Punjabi and Zee Biskope are scheduled to go on air on 13 January and 14 January 2020 respectively whereas, Zee Thirai and Zee Picchar will launch between February and  March  2020.

    Zee Punjabi is to be a mixture of shows, films, and movies. It will have five fiction and three non-fiction shows along with music, movies and more at launch. The channels tag line has been decided as ‘Kahaaniyaan Punjabi, Boli Punjabi, Zee Punjabi’.

    The three regional movies channel — Zee Biskope, Zee Thirai, and Zee Picchar will be  in addition to the already established regional GEC channels that Zee has  in Bhojpuri, Tamil, and Kannada languages.

    ZEEL’s domestic broadcast business chief executive officer, Punit Misra said, “We have always believed that deep understanding of cultures across the nation and serving people entertainment rooted in each culture win hearts. In the last four to five years, if you look at the regional viewership then all Hindi i.e., GEC and movies was let’s say 38 percent of the total television consumption. All languages (GEC+movies) were around 32 percent. So, there is movement ahead of overall market growth in all regional markets put together. Plus, if you look at the movie genre it has grown in the regional market 2x of the total viewership growth of the country.

    He further added that cultural pulse is at the core of the differentiated strategy at ZEEL. “Our newest offerings are designed to add to our growth trajectory, further cementing our belief in winning hearts across many states.”

    ZEEL’s chief growth officer, Ashish Sehgal spoke about the disruption in the broadcasting industry due to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) New Tariff Order (NTO). He said that the dust is settling and the industry has started showing signs of revival and growth and hence the new channels will only help the network going forward.

    Zee's regional portfolio contributes to over 50 per cent of its overall share, with GECs contributing almost 90 per cent of the regional pie. It is the dominant market player in Marathi, Bangla and Kannada with over 50 per cent market share in Marathi and Bangla markets.

    The content of all these four channels will be shared and available to viewers on Zee’s OTT platform ZEE5, so that they continue binge-watch their favourite TV shows missed episode and films any time.

    ZEEL’s chief marketing officer, Pratyusha Agarwal said: “From a highly TV penetrated but hugely under-consumed latent Punjabi GEC opportunity to insatiable, thriving demand for movies in the Bhojpuri, Tamil, and Kannada markets, the regional need gaps present the perfect opening to further deepen the bonds we have with viewers all over India in various languages. We crafted and curated these four new offerings powered by deep viewer understanding, loads of passion and hoping that our viewers enjoy them as much as we did creating them!"

    ZEEL has completed 27 illustrious years, now entertaining over 800 mn people across India, 650 mn of which comes through non-Hindi offerings, a press statement said.

    Zee Punjabi

    With over 20 hours of original weekly content, Zee Punjabi is the first Punjabi GEC that will celebrate Punjab with stories of Punjabiyat. Zee Punjabi offers its viewers a mixture of blockbuster cinema, ground contest shows, and chart-busting music.

    ZEEL’s cluster head – north, west premium channels, Amit Shah said, “Despite the highest TV penetration (88 per cent) in the country, Punjab has a significantly low time spent and that is a factor of not having dedicated Punjabi content across that does justice to the region and culture.”

    He added, “Zee Punjabi is being launched by understanding the viewer’s need gap; for a culture that is so powerful, Punjab definitely needs its own authentic Punjabi channel.”

    “We have a strong line-up of stories with themes familiar to Punjab, characters that people will fall in love with and faces like Gurdas Mann, Jazzy B, Sonu Kakkar among others, who are respected in Punjab,” adds Zee Punjabi’s business head, Rahul Rao.

    Zee Thirai

    Zee Thirai is a new Tamil movie channel that will present the passion of Tamilians for their cinema and will fuel their heroic spirit through powerful movies, a press statement added.

    The channel will have a programming library of above 400 celebrated titles from Tamil cinema that includes widespread genres from blockbuster hits to critically acclaimed movies such as Mersal, 2.0, Kanna, Kolamavu Kokila among others.

    The channel is to have uninterrupted entertainment with break-less movies in the afternoon slot. The first look of the channel will be unveiled during Zee Cine Awards Tamil in January 2020.

    According to ZEEL’s south cluster head, Siju Prabhakaran, “The launch of Zee Thirai is a showcase of Tamil cinema which has deep-rooted cultural and emotional context. We are seeking to channelise the heroic spirit it infuses in people into a strong brand and content stance.”

    Zee Picchar

    Zee Picchar is a new Kannada movie channel that will make every day a superhot day for the Kannadiga families, a press statement said. The channel will have a library of over 35 celebrated titles spanning across genres and generations from timeless classics to new age trendsetters.

    With an aim of a one-break movie at specific slots for entertainment with minimal disruptions, ZEEL will launch the channel with 12 Picchar premieres to be aired on 12 consecutive days.

    Zee Kannada’s business head, Raghavendra Hunsur said:  “After winning hearts of Kannadigas with Zee Kannada, we are all set to appeal to the viewers’ appetite and further strengthen our presence in the state.”

    Zee Biskope

    Bhojpuri movie channel Zee Biskope will be in addition to the successful GEC Zee Gang and will have a library of over 300 super hit movies with the biggest blockbuster movies of the last five years.

    “Larger-than-life’s south Indian movies dubbed content will be broadcast on Zee Biskope,” a ZEEL official said. He added that people in the north relate to the story of the movies made in the southern part of India, especially Telugu and Tamil cinema.

    ZEEL cluster head, east, Samrat Ghosh added: “The Bhojpuri content industry is increasing manifold in recent years. While Hindi GEC has grown at 40 per cent in the past three years in terms of consumption, the Bhojpuri GEC and movie verticals have grown by 85 per cent.”