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Tag: Zee5

  • Zee5’s active subscription doubled on back of investments in Punjabi content

    Zee5’s active subscription doubled on back of investments in Punjabi content

    Mumbai: Streaming platform Zee5 has witnessed an upswing in active subscription numbers witnessing two times growth, with the highest contribution from Punjab and neighbouring states like Haryana, Delhi NCR, and Uttar Pradesh.

    According to the OTT platform, the surge is on the back of Punjabi releases like “Puaada,” “Jinne Jamme Saare Nikamme,” and “Qismat 2” starring Pollywood names Ammy Virk, Sonam Bajwa, Sargun Mehta, Binnu Dhillon, Gurnam Bhullar, and more.

    The platform reported that the average watch time per viewer per month as on September is 186 minutes. Comedy and romance are the most preferred genres in the market, with the viewership split between 77 per cent male and 23 per cent female audiences. Ludhiana, Delhi and Chandigarh are top markets that are watching high-quality Punjabi content.

    “Our foray in Punjabi-speaking markets was a crucial step in our larger objective of ‘entertainment inclusion’, especially for newer and underserved markets across India,” said Zee5 India chief business officer Manish Kalra. “We penetrated the greenfield market with a power-packed content slate of stories from the heartland that have worked well with the audience who were on the lookout for quality entertainment in their own language. We are thrilled to have received an overwhelming response of a 100+ per cent growth, and we will continue to deliver and curate the best of Punjabi titles ensuring an unhindered entertainment supply.”

    Punjab stands as one of the key markets in northern India with high internet penetration and strong telecom infrastructure density. With limited content options in their local language, Zee5 addressed the unmet content demand of three core plus Punjabi native speakers in India by offering a robust library of Punjabi entertainment.

  • Zee5 inks multi-show partnership with Applause Entertainment

    Zee5 inks multi-show partnership with Applause Entertainment

    Mumbai: Streaming platform Zee5 has announced a strategic partnership with content and IP studio Applause Entertainment, a venture of Aditya Birla Group for a multi-show association. The two content companies will collaborate to create a robust original content slate of new Zee5 originals in Hindi across genres to entertain viewers across the globe.

    The first offering as part of the partnership is titled “Kaun Banegi Shikharwati’”– a dramedy series with a unique take on a dysfunctional royal family. The show will be produced by Applause Entertainment in association with Emmay Entertainment and directed by Gauravv Chawla and Ananya Banerjee. The original will premiere exclusively on Zee5 in January 2022.

    “Over the last four years, Applause has created a diverse slate of content and explored stories across genres, languages, and geographies. We are thrilled that our first outing with Zee5 is with Kaun Banegi Shikarwati, a light-hearted, heart-warming dramedy that is both quirky and delightful and boasts a stellar cast of actors. We look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with Zee5 and help contribute in a small way to their global ambition,” said Applause Entertainment CEO Sameer Nair.

    Zeel president-content and international markets Punit Misra said, “Zee5’s content design principles centre around intimately knowing our viewers and building a bouquet of engaging and entertaining offerings for our multiple consumer cohorts. While Consumer Intimacy is at the heart of our content creation philosophy, our Content Creator Partners are the other crucial pillar in our approach.”

    “In 2021, Zee5 has made a concerted effort to associate with premium content creators across languages and genres, a move that has enabled us to inch closer to our overall vision of ‘Entertainment inclusion’,” said Zee5 India chief business officer Manish Kalra. “Applause Entertainment has had a strong record of creating some of the most popular shows of recent times and with this association, Zee5 is confident of enriching our content slate even further.”

    The move is in line with Zee5’s content-first approach of forging more partnerships within the creative ecosystem to build a diverse slate of originals and movies. The platform had earlier sealed partnerships with TVF (The Viral Fever), Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and Nitesh Tiwari, and Red Chillies Entertainment to deliver several new shows across the digital entertainment ecosystem.

    “Kaun Banegi Shikharwati’” features a spectacular cast of renowned Bollywood faces, including Naseeruddin Shah essaying the role of a King while Lara Dutta Bhupathi, Soha Ali Khan, Kritika Kamra, Anya Singh play his daughters, and Raghubir Yadav, Cyrus Sahukar, Varun Thakur and Anurag Sinha play key roles.

     

     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
     

     
     
     

     
     

    A post shared by ZEE5 (@zee5)

     

    Elaborating on the new show, Emmay Entertainment producer Nikkhil Advani said, “Kaun Banegi Shikarwati offers a quintessential story of Indian families that’s replete with oddities and conflicts. But at the core of it, lies unfiltered emotions that are sure to resonate strongly with the masses.”

    Zee5 chief creative officer- Hindi Originals Nimisha Pandey said there is an increasing need for family-viewing content in a post-pandemic era and a multi-dimensional drama like “Kaun Banegi Shikharwati’” works beautifully in that aspect. “We hope that the audience enjoys the roller coaster of emotions with this series,” she added.

  • In a first, major OTT platforms to participate in IFFI

    In a first, major OTT platforms to participate in IFFI

    Mumbai: The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will see participation from major OTT platforms, for the first time in its history. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Zee5, SonyLIV, and Voot will participate at IFFI that is being held in Goa starting 20 November.

    The festival will offer exclusive masterclasses, content launches, previews, and much more. The 52nd edition of IFFI will be held in hybrid format considering the present Covid-19 situation.

    Netflix has organised a three-day virtual masterclass by the Paris-based renowned school of image and arts, Gobelins – School L’image. It facilitated the India premiere of the film “The Power Of The Dog” by Jane Campion, a special screening of the film “Dhamaka” including an introduction of the film by Karthik Aryan and a preview of the first episode of its upcoming crime thriller series “Aranyak” starring Raveena Tandon and Ashutosh Rana. SonyLIV is organising a masterclass by “Scam 1992” screenplay writers Sumit Purohit and Saurav Dey.

    The union minister of information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur announced that actor and member of parliament from Mathura Uttar Pradesh Hema Malini and lyricist and chairperson of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Prasoon Joshi will be conferred the Indian film personality of the year award 2021 at the festival.

    IFFI will feature 148 films from about 73 countries in the international section. The festival will have about 12 world premieres, about 7 international premieres, 26 Asia premieres, and about 64 India premieres. IFFI received 624 films from 95 countries this time, up from 69 countries in the previous edition.

    Global cinematic giants Martin Scorsese and Istevan Szabo are being honoured with the first Satyajit Ray lifetime achievement award. They will not be attending the festival physically but their video messages conveying acceptance of the award will be played.

    The opening feature film of Indian Panorama 2021 is the film “Semkhor,” directed by Aimee Baruah. This is the first-ever film made in Dimasa (dialect from Assam) to be featured at IFFI. “The Visionary” (English) directed by Shri Rajiv Parkash is the opening non-feature film in the Indian Panorama section. “The King of all the World” (El Rey de Todo El Mundo) directed by Carlos Saura will be the opening film and this will also be the film’s international premiere. IFFI 52 will come to a close with the screening of Asghar Farhadi’s “A Hero,” which won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.

    There will be about 18 specially curated films presented as part of the ongoing celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The festival director informed that the international jury chaired by the Iranian filmmaker Rakhshān Banietemad is coming to attend the festival. The BRICS Film Festival is being held on the sidelines of IFFI for the first time. There will be a special package presenting films from the five countries.

    The 52nd edition of IFFI is paying homage to the prominent Kannada film actor Puneet Rajkumar and iconic James Bond actor Sir Sean Connery.

    IFFI will open with a star-studded inaugural ceremony, featuring Salman Khan, Ranveer Singh, Riteish Deshmukh, Genelia Deshmukh, Shraddha Kapoor, amongst others. Karan Johar and Manish Paul will host the event.

  • Zeel Q2 FY22: New content launches bolsters ad revenue growth

    Zeel Q2 FY22: New content launches bolsters ad revenue growth

    Mumbai: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) announced its financial results for the second quarter FY 2022 ended on 30 September. The company reported 14.9 per cent revenue growth year-on-year (YoY) and 20.1 per cent domestic advertising revenue growth YoY.

    The company’s total revenues stood at Rs 1305 million which was up 17 per cent sequentially. Its EBIDTA was Rs 4121 million and its EBIDTA margins at 20.8 per cent. The company’s advertising revenues stood at Rs 10,893 million and subscription revenues at Rs 7,885 million. Domestic ad revenue grew on a quarter-on-quarter basis by 18.9 per cent. Subscription revenues were down marginally by 1.5 per cent YoY. The company indicated that delay in NTO 2.0 implementation continues to impact pricing. The new timeline for NTO 2.0 rollout was extended till 1 April 2022.

    The broadcaster saw its total TV viewership decrease slightly but grew its network viewership share by 70 bps on account of new show launches across all markets. It released 13 new shows and movies during the quarter. Zee TV, Zee Marathi, and Zee Tamil’s performance was soft during the quarter. The Bengali, Kannada, and Telugu channels posted a strong performance. Genre-wise news and movies led to lower contribution in overall viewership.

    The company reported 93.2 million global monthly active users (MAUs) for its streaming platform ZEE5. Zeel’s film production arm Zee Studios has a strong slate of movies ready for H2 FY22 across Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and Punjabi languages being planned for release.

    In an investor call, Zeel managing director and chief executive officer Punit Goenka shared an update on the merger between Zeel and Sony Pictures Networks India. He said, “After receiving in-principle approval from the board, the due diligence process has commenced and is in steady progress. We are confident that this process will be completed within the stipulated timelines or even before that. Post which we will move on to the next steps as mandated by the law.”

  • Zee5 unveils its Bengali content slate for Durga Puja

    Zee5 unveils its Bengali content slate for Durga Puja

    Mumbai: Zee5 has launched #AamarPujoSobarPujo, a digital campaign for Durga Puja 2021 encouraging viewers to celebrate togetherness through the platform. As part of the campaign, a fresh slate of Bengali festive content comprising featured shows, web series, and direct-to-digital releases have been announced.

    During Durgotsav the platform will stream pujo special programming and new films every Friday in October along with popular TV shows like “Mithai,” “Amader Ei Poth Jodi na Sesh Hoy,” “Aparajita Apu,” “Dadagiri” (season 9), and “Uma,” and originals such as “Lalbazaar and Kaali” (season 1 and 2).

    The campaign video featuring people immersed in festivities on one side, and several workers such as a police officer, cab driver, sanitisation lady, and waiter selflessly going about their jobs on the other, celebrates the spirit of togetherness that marks Durga Pujo in Bengal.

    “With inclusivity at the heart of the brand, this campaign brings forth the recognition of those who have selflessly contributed to the community through the good and the tough times,” stated Zee5 India chief business officer Manish Kalra. “With #AamarPujoSobarPujo we want to bring entertainment home to everyone and have an inclusive occasion by delivering our durgotsav specials hailing from the heartland of Bengal, extending the celebration across geographies and borders.”

  • Madison Digital wins AVoD mandate for Zee5

    Madison Digital wins AVoD mandate for Zee5

    Mumbai: Madison Digital, a unit of Madison World has won the advertising-based video on demand (AVoD) mandate for home-grown video streaming platform Zee5. 

    The agency will handle media planning, social media, and creative development for Zee5’s B2B marketing function, said the statement.

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd chief operations officer of revenue Rajiv Bakshi said AVoD is a fast-growing OTT category and through its strong adtech and martech stack, Zee5 has paved the way for marketers and advertisers to engage with viewers through creative and innovative ways. “As a consumer-first brand, built on the back of our profound consumer understanding, the aim has always been towards providing customised and effective campaigns across multiple cohorts and segments. We have partnered with majority of brands across all industries, for multi-scale advertising, branded solutions and influencer-based marketing campaigns. We look forward to a successful partnership with Madison to further communicate our success story, distinct product offerings and fuel our growth in India,” Bakshi added.

    “Zee5 has seen a tremendous amount of growth over the last few years. The brand has been coming up with impressive originals suited for the Indian market. We are extremely happy to partner with Zee5 in growing the AVoD business for the platform,” said Madison Digital & Madison Media Ultra CEO Vishal Chinchankar.

  • Jay Pandya joins Legend Global Studio as CEO

    Jay Pandya joins Legend Global Studio as CEO

    Mumbai: Jay Pandya has joined media company Legend Global Studio as chief executive officer, according to his LinkedIn profile.

    Prior to this, Pandya was associated with OTT platform Zee5 where he was head of content acquisition and partnership for more than five years. He previously worked with TAM Media Research as director of clients acquisition for over 10 years.

    Pandya commands over 16 years of experience in content strategy, content acquisition, content creation, business planning, digital strategy, research, new business development, budgeting, P&L management, and client servicing to the media industry as a whole.

    Established in 2015, Legend Global Studio is producer Sandeep Singh’s independent media production company that bankrolled films like “Sarbjit,” “Bhoomi,” and “PM Narendra Modi.”

  • ZEE5 unveils festive content line-up

    ZEE5 unveils festive content line-up

    Mumbai: ZEE5 has announced its new content line-up including over 30 AVOD premieres and 14 original SVOD new releases for the festive season 2021.

    Enabling advertisers to enhance engagement using personalised tech and data-enabled cohorts and interest clusters, the OTT platform will facilitate brands to increase their market share across categories, including CPG, digital, auto, lifestyle, wellness, ed-tech, BFSI, SMB, and more, throughout the season.

    The slate of multilingual AVOD premieres scheduled between October to December 2021 will engage multiple language affinity consumers such as Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, and Bangla across demographics, from metros to Tier II and III cities. Shows with a prominent star cast, multi-starrer exclusive line-ups of awards, events, and festive tentpoles have been announced to entertain viewers and act as vehicles for brand integrations.

    Recently the OTT platform also came up with an Intelligence Monitor report to add incremental value to its range of advertisers by decoding the latest and imminent consumption trends, consumer preferences and discovering new insights across various product and service categories.

    ZEEL chief operations officer – revenue, Rajiv Bakshi said, “It is the biggest consumption period across all product and service categories and therefore we have strategised the finest content line-up that will enable brands to plan hyper-personalised marketing campaigns to grow their market shares and brand engagement. ZEE5 extends strategic advantage to clients as it offers a gender-balanced, young, and massive viewer base for brand integration and influencer marketing solutions on its impact properties, and the massive reach and video inventory across entertainment, news, and premium CTV.”

  • Taapsee Pannu-starrer ‘Rashmi Rocket’ to directly premiere on Zee5

    Taapsee Pannu-starrer ‘Rashmi Rocket’ to directly premiere on Zee5

    Mumbai: Video streaming platform Zee5 is set to premiere Tapsee Pannu-starrer sports drama “Rashmi Rocket” on 15 October. The film is produced by Ronnie Screwvala, Neha Anand and Pranjal Khandhdiya under RSVP and Mango People Media.

    “At Zee5, we have constantly strived to bring audiences richer experiences with versatile content that is not just entertaining but also a reflection of us as a collective society,” said Zee5 India chief business officer Manish Kalra. “Rashmi Rocket is riveting, relevant, and will have you cheering, empathising, and questioning. It’s cinema that moves you.”

    Set in the salt marshes of Kutch, the film is about a young village girl who is an incredibly fast runner, nurturing the ambition of crossing the finish line some day. In the journey to fulfilling her dreams, she soon realises that the race is peppered with many hurdles, and what seems like an athletic contest turns into a personal battle for respect, honour, and identity.

    “Rashmi Rocket” is written by Nanda Periyasamy, Aniruddha Guha, and Kanika Dhillon and directed by Akarsh Khurana. The film also features Supriya Pathak, Abhishek Banerjee, Priyanshu Painyuli, and Supriya Pilgaonkar in pivotal roles.

    “So many immensely talented youth do not reach their full potential or even have opportunities owing to the obstacles the system and society throw at them. Rashmi Rocket is one such example of someone who faced those obstacles head-on and overcame them,” said RSVP’s Ronnie Screwvala on the film. “It’s a story of resilience, determination, and above all, the fighting human spirit.”

  • Zee5 launches OTT-first ‘Intelligence Monitor’

    Zee5 launches OTT-first ‘Intelligence Monitor’

    Mumbai: Streaming service platform Zee5 on Friday announced its plans to launch an industry-first fortnightly knowledge series ‘Zee5 Intelligence Monitor’ to decode the latest and imminent consumption trends, consumer preferences, and new insights across various product and service categories. 

    According to a statement, the new offering aims to add incremental value to the brands’ range of advertisers.

    With its audience spread across the country, the ‘Zee5 Intelligence Monitor’ will track transformative consumer behaviour across industry verticals spanning diverse categories such as auto, beauty, health and wellness, smartphones, gaming, cryptocurrency and more, said the statement.

    This model will bring together renowned industry leaders for expert viewpoints especially pertaining to the new-normal accelerated by the rapid adoption of the internet and technology, it added.

    “The ZEE5 Intelligence Monitor knowledge series will bring on board brand custodians and product leaders from diverse industries to analyse and examine the deep implications of the emerging and imminent trends, consumer perceptions and outlooks, and further discuss how each product category can take maximum advantage of these disruptive transformations,” said Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd COO for revenue Rajiv Bakshi. “Our objective is to offer our advertiser partners a multidimensional understanding to traditional and emerging product categories, coupled with insights into the minds of consumers and to effectively drive targeted engagement, combat ambiguity and boost smarter business decisions.”

    “It is intriguing and exciting to hear about the imminent launch of the ZEE5 Intelligence Monitor. We all read category analyses from different forums, but I believe this is the first time an entertainment major is publishing perspectives on emerging and established categories,” remarked Madison Media & OOH group CEO Vikram Sakhuja.