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  • Amit Goenka on ZEE5 growth, monetisation and language-based content strategy

    Amit Goenka on ZEE5 growth, monetisation and language-based content strategy

    MUMBAI: Within a very short span after its launch, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd's (ZEEL) digital venture ZEE5 has been able to gain good traction in the Indian market reaching 61 million monthly active users (MAUs). While the company is monetising this viewership through advertising for now, digital subscription is also seeing good initial traction. However,  ZEEL international broadcast business and ZEE5 Global CEO Amit Goenka noted that for a sustained growth it needs to establish a strong value proposition with a large catalogue of differentiated content.

    In a Q&A published in the company's annual report, Goenka spoke on a wide array of topics in the context of ZEE5’s performance in 15 months, user base, content strategy, and monetisation. Here are the edited excerpts of the interview:

    ZEE5 was launched in a crowded OTT space. How would you rate its performance after 15 months of launch?

    We have been pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming response ZEE5 has received. Reaching 61 million monthly active users within a year of launch is a great start. In the first year itself, we have significantly expanded our original content offering and have become the number one producer for digital exclusive content. ZEE5 has rolled out several new features for its consumers and is also offering differentiated solutions to advertisers. Although the progress in year one has been satisfactory, we would have liked to launch ZEE5 a little earlier. We always believed that the right product with a compelling content catalogue would be able to make its mark. This is just the beginning and ZEE5 will continue to scale up on the three pillars of content, technology and partnerships.

    An Indian consumer has multiple OTT options for entertainment. What in your opinion makes a consumer choose ZEE5 over the others?

    Over the past two and half decades we have observed that viewers in India prefer to consume content in their own language. Content across 12 languages has been the focus of ZEE5 since launch. We also understand that viewers’ needs are diverse and therefore we offer a wide range of content. That is where our expansive movie library, ZEE5 Originals, TV shows, curated news, music videos, live events and cine-plays come into the picture. While ZEEL’s extensive library of catch-up TV is driving organic growth on our AVOD offering, the taut storytelling of our original content has appealed to viewers and is driving SVOD adoption. ZEE5’s features like navigation in 11 languages, voice search, and option to download and consume offline have been designed considering the realities of the Indian market. ZEE5 is committed to offering enough choices and improving convenience for consumers to make it the go-to destination for entertainment.

    Could you share your philosophy for selection of stories for original content?

    Based on the insights from our extensive research of OTT’s target audience, we have devised a philosophy for original content that is based on the 3Rs – Real, Relevant, and Resonant. It helps us to select stories from across the country’s diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Over the last 15 months, we have created content across several genres – biopics, thrillers, horror, comedy, and action. In India, young audiences (18-35 years) have been the early adopters of digital platforms and these genres have seen great success with this segment. Our shows like Karenjit Kaur: The Untold Story of Sunny Leone, Rangbaaz, Parchayee: Ghost stories by Ruskin Bond, Babbar ka Tabbar, or movies such as Tigers and the line-up of ZEE5 Film Festival have seen immense success. Our FY20 slate of original content is building up well and we are on track to launch over 70 original shows and movies across 6 languages.

    ZEE5 has built a sizeable user base in a short time. How are you monetising this base and how do you see the split between advertising and subscription revenues?

    India is a unique market when it comes to OTT, especially with respect to advertising and subscription. At present, television and free content dominate viewership on OTT platforms and on ZEE5 as well, catch-up TV attracts a large proportion of eyeballs. We are monetising this viewership through advertising, and this is driving acceleration in the company’s overall ad revenue growth. In the price-sensitive Indian market, digital has to compete with a very economical television offering to build a subscriber base.

    While the digital subscription is seeing good initial traction, for a sustained growth it needs to establish a strong value proposition by offering a large catalogue of differentiated content. ZEE5 is focused on creating content that caters to needs not addressed by television. ZEE5’s revenues will be dominated by advertising initially but as we populate our platform with more original and premium content, we expect the subscriber base to scale up faster. In the longer term, digital subscription could be as big an opportunity as advertising in India.

    ZEE5 has struck several partnerships over the last one year. What is the framework for selection of partners and how do you evaluate the performance of a partnership?

    We are evaluating partnerships primarily with two objectives in mind – reaching untapped audiences and improving the viewing experience. Digital video consumption in the country is being driven by mobile, accounting for over 90 per cent of viewership. Telecom players are playing an important role in driving this growth by bundling content with their services and have become natural partners for content producers. Our partnerships with all the leading telcos boost the consumption of our AVOD content and also helps to drive our subscription service by offering SVOD content for their premium consumers. We are also partnering with device manufacturers to benefit from the rising penetration of smartphones and smart TVs. Some of our partnerships in the digital ecosystem are with businesses that already have an established user base in our target segments. In addition to providing additional touchpoints for reaching consumers, these partnerships also enable better content discovery and viewing experience.

    With so many players investing in their OTT offerings, how do you see the landscape evolving?

    The data and technology revolution has considerably changed the media landscape, bringing new players into the entertainment industry and enabling the existing ones to explore new opportunities. Several technology-first companies that started off with licenced or user-generated content are now producing original content. On the other hand, the incumbents are also upgrading their technological capabilities along with expanding their content offering. Integration of technology will have several lasting impacts on the way content is created and consumed. However, I believe that in the long run, technology-led differentiation will diminish, and the only key differentiator for any platform will be content. While some platforms will find and operate in a niche, only a few will be able to reach a pan-India scale. ZEE5 remains focused on becoming a one-stop digital entertainment destination for Indian audiences by creating content that resonates with them and by continually expanding its content offering.

  • ZEEL CFO on TRAI tariff order impact on subscription revenue, advertising growth outlook & content cost inflation

    ZEEL CFO on TRAI tariff order impact on subscription revenue, advertising growth outlook & content cost inflation

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) maintained its growth trajectory for the year end 31 March with an 18.7 per cent increase in y-o-y revenues. Advertising revenue for the financial was up 19.8 per cent on the back of consolidating the market share of its domestic broadcast business and monetisation of ZEE5’s consumer base. ZEEL's programming cost for FY19 increased by 21.7 per cent YoY largely due to the content cost for its streaming service. The media and entertainment conglomerate's numbers not only beat analysts' expectations but were impressive given the changes in broadcast and cable services regulation. It was an eventful year for the iconic brand given the news of its impending stake sale. However, moving forward, the Subhash Chandra-led company will continue to invest and scale up new businesses to widen its content offering. In a Q&A published in the company's annual report, ZEEL CFO Rohit Gupta commented on a wide array of subjects including its financial performance in FY19, outlook of advertising growth, new tariff order’s impact on subscription revenue among others

    Here are the edited excerpts.

    How was ZEEL’s financial performance in FY19?

    We are happy to deliver yet another year of industry leading performance. During the previous fiscal, our revenues grew by 18.7 per cent YoY, led by strong operating performance across all businesses. Advertising revenues for the year grew by 19.8 per cent driven by the viewership share gains in domestic broadcast business and monetisation of ZEE5’s fast-growing user base. Subscription revenues grew by 13.9 per cent during the year. While international subscription remained largely stable, domestic pay revenues witnessed a growth of 17.4 per cent, led by improved monetisation of phase-III markets. Our movie production and distribution vertical drove a strong 30 per cent growth in other revenues. During the year, our cost base was elevated due to higher content investments and increase in marketing spends for our digital and broadcast businesses. Despite these investments, our EBITDA margins expanded to 32.3 per cent, highlighting the underlying profitability of our business. Our FY19 results are consistent with the performance over the past five years. We have registered 16 per cent CAGR in both revenues and EBITDA during this period on the back of strong operating performance.

    Could you elaborate on the factors driving strong growth in domestic advertising revenues in FY19? What is your outlook for advertising growth?

    During FY19, domestic advertising revenues witnessed a growth of 20.9 per cent led by traction in both television and digital businesses. Our domestic broadcast business gained another 170bps viewership share led by the regional and movie channels. We became the leader in Bangla and Kannada markets and further strengthened our share in Tamil Nadu. This helped us to improve our monetisation and grow ahead of the industry. Additionally, advertising revenues from ZEE5 contributed to growth. During the first three quarters, growth was relatively stronger at 22 per cent, helped by a low base and increase in ad-spends by consumer companies. However, in the fourth quarter, the growth moderated as the advertisers reduced spends due to uncertainty related to implementation of the tariff order. We believe that once the disruption is behind us, the ad growth will return to its normal growth trajectory. As ZEE5 continues to scale up, it would witness a concomitant increase in ad revenues as well. The movement of two of our FTA channels out of DD Freedish will have some impact on ad growth in the near-term but we are working with our strategy to compensate for that revenue loss through other channels. Our endeavor is to continue growing ahead of the industry.

    What led to the acceleration in domestic subscription revenue growth in FY19? What are the implications of the TRAI tariff order on subscription revenue growth?

    Our domestic subscription revenue growth stood at 17.4 per cent in FY19, a significant acceleration from the previous year. The growth during the year can be divided into two parts – strong 22.5 per cent growth during the first nine-months and a muted fourth quarter. During the first nine-months, we benefitted from monetisation of the newly digitised phase III markets. However, during the fourth quarter, implementation of the long-awaited TRAI tariff order negatively impacted the growth. Given that this regulation allows the consumers to choose and select individual channels or bouquets, the distributors’ infrastructure was put under immense pressure as the back-end had to cope with implementing millions of combinations. This led to execution challenges and disruptions on the ground. That said, ZEEL has seen satisfactory uptake of its channels and bouquets. We are positive that once the impact of the regulation settles, subscription growth will revert to its normal course. Our medium-term guidance on domestic subscription revenues remain unchanged.

    Content costs have seen an increase in FY19. Is the company seeing content cost inflation, especially in the digital business?

    In FY19, our content cost increased by 21.7 per cent YoY, slightly ahead of revenue growth, resulting in our content cost-to-revenue ratio going up by 100bps to 38.8 per cent. Three factors contributed to this increase – ramp up of ZEE5 Originals, higher movie amortisation costs, and increase in content cost of Zee Studios. To understand the cost inflation, we can divide ZEEL’s content in three categories. First, fiction and non-fiction shows for our television audience, which accounts for a substantial portion of our total content cost. Cost per hour for this category is growing in line with inflation. Second, original content for our digital platform, ZEE5. Cost of ZEE5 Originals is increasing significantly as we are ramping up production across 6 languages. In the digital business, higher talent cost and amortisation of fixed costs over fewer episodes push up the cost per hour. Though ZEE5 produced 50+ original series/films till Mar-2019, it is still a small proportion of our total content bouquet. Lastly, the acquisition of movie rights for both broadcast and digital businesses contributed to cost inflation.

    What is the growth and investment outlook for new businesses and initiatives?

    At ZEEL, we continue to invest and scale up new businesses to widen our content offering. Our new businesses – digital, movies and music, and live entertainment have gained traction during FY19 and are heading in the planned direction. ZEE5 completed its first year of operations and the platform has witnessed very encouraging response. ZEE5 released 50+ original series/ movies to become the largest digital content producer in India. Investments in digital will further increase as we ramp-up production of ZEE5 Originals and movie offering across languages. These content investments will be complemented by marketing spends. Our domestic broadcast business is preparing to launch movie channels in regional markets for which we have been building a library for some time. Incremental investments in the domestic broadcast would be limited. These content and marketing investments are expensed above EBITDA. Despite these investments, the company expects to maintain healthy margins.

    Working capital saw a sharp increase in the past three years which has negatively impacted free cash flow. When do you expect cash generation to improve?

    The increase in working capital is primarily attributable to our strategy of building a strong movie library and scaling up of original content production for ZEE5. On the digital original content front, we have built a strong slate with plans to release over 70 series/ films across six languages in FY20. Investments in movies and original content for ZEE5 will continue, however, as revenues from these businesses grow, we will start seeing an improvement in cash generation.

  • ZEE LIVE announces expansion of leadership team

    ZEE LIVE announces expansion of leadership team

    MUMBAI: Strengthening its core senior team, ZEE LIVE, the Live events and IP vertical of ZEEL, has announced the appointment of Unnati Ashar as product head of its Live IP business.

    Unnati has more than 10 years’ experience in experiential marketing and a demonstrated track record of working in the events and activation services industry as well as a rich background in IP content. She is skilled in integrated marketing, below-the-line, event management, brand management and strategy. 

    Unnati will be responsible for leading the existing IPs – Arth, LF 91, Zee Educare and Supermoon – as well as scaling them up. She will also be responsible for overseeing innovation and improving the business’ products, such that the enterprise is constantly growing to meet consumer needs.

    Unnati, who will report into Swaroop Banerjee, will actively work towards developing the branded content division of ZEE LIVE. This includes collaboration with brands across sectors, identifying opportunities that lead to the growth of the brand through innovation and creating relevant IPs for them.

    Swaroop Banerjee, COO, ZEE LIVE, said: “We have now, in a very quick time frame established 4 genres in the Live IP space, I am incredibly bullish about the trajectory in this direction. We’ve had huge success with our existing IPs Arth, LF 91, Zee Educare & Supermoon reaching out to over 205 Million people and reinstating our core offering of creating Live Original Content on the ground that is complemented by our network assets. Unnati will bring a wealth of knowledge and a fresh outlook that will help reinforce our commitment to conceptualising the best IPs. We are also looking at developing our branded content division under her leadership.”

  • ZEE partners with Indiantelevision.com for Media HR Summit 2019

    ZEE partners with Indiantelevision.com for Media HR Summit 2019

    MUMBAI: Since inception, Indiantelevision.com has always attempted to sincerely engage with India’s media and entertainment industry in a bid to offer innovative content and broaden the scope for dialogue. Extending this endeavor to a key sphere of the ecosystem, Indiantelevision.com is now putting together its first-ever Media HR Summit in partnership with ZEE, the title sponsor for the conclave.

    Media HR Summit intends to delve deep into the challenges that India’s M&E industry faces today and understand how corporate and HR leaders are steering their companies into the future as they seek to attract, develop and retain talent. ZEE, one of India’s biggest and most sought after employers, coming on board as the main partner further highlights the importance of this initiative and bolsters its credibility.

    “The Indian Media & Entertainment Industry is at an inflection point where convergence, consolidation and technological innovations are reshaping all parts of the M&E value chain. The oft repeated cliché “what got us here, won’t get us there”, has never been more relevant. Talent capability & availability both are amongst the biggest challenges we need to address to successfully navigate the emerging landscape. It is imperative that we build and retain a workforce that is ready for a generational shift in skills. We are proud to partner with Indiantelevision.com’s 1st Media HR Summit that aims to address these challenges and help HR leaders across sectors to share thoughts and perspectives on building a dynamic workplace in a digitally transformative world,” Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited chief people officer Animesh Kumar said.

    Media HR Summit, which is scheduled to take place on 26 June at The Westin in Mumbai, aims to tackle key themes like culture and chemistry, emerging trends in HR, employee engagement models, building equity in the workplace, empowering a network of leaders, future-focused people strategies and changing the nature of employment.

    The conclave features a stellar line of speakers and leaders that have shaped some of India’s finest organisations.  With participation from broadcasters, production houses, brands, media agencies and joint industry bodies, the Media HR Summit 2019 boasts representation across the M&E spectrum.

    Animesh Kumar, Discovery Communications India MD south Asia Megha Tata, MullenLowe Lintas Group’s HR director Heather Saville Gupta and Publicis’ head human resource Nikhil Natekar among others are some of the senior executives that will offer their perspective on the current landscape through panel discussions, fireside chats and presentations.

  • Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio eye stake in ZEEL: Report

    Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio eye stake in ZEEL: Report

    MUMBAI:  After it came to light that Sony Corporation had withdrawn its bid for a stake in Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), Indian telecom giants Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are likely to bid for the same, according to a report by press agency IANS.

    While Bharti Airtel has moved ahead and is likely to initiate a formal proposal, Reliance Jio is still considering the move.

    In a statement, a Bharti Airtel spokesperson said, "Airtel is not in the race to acquire Zee.” A representative for Zee said the company doesn’t comment on speculation though it is in “steady dialogue” with potential partners.

    Discussion between Japan’s Sony Corporation buying 20 to 25 per cent stake in the Subhash Chandra-led Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) had been scrapped due to valuation differences.

    The development has cleared the way for a consortium of US telecom conglomerate Comcast along with its partner investment firm Atairos to take over the talks.

    Chandra has been looking to sell a stake in the company in order to repay promoter debt worth Rs 13,000 crore.

  • Zee Cinema unveils new brand positioning ‘Seene Mein Cinema’

    Zee Cinema unveils new brand positioning ‘Seene Mein Cinema’

    MUMBAI: Zee Cinema has unveiled its new brand philosophy, ‘Jazba Hai Jeene Mein, Jab Cinema Hai Seene Mein’ that captures this emotion of achieving the unachievable. Its brand positioning ‘Seene Mein Cinema’ is aimed towards inspiring every Indian to make the most of everything that life has to offer, starting 31 March.

    The film reflects the new philosophy and positioning, accentuating the essence of inspiration and motivation. With the brand repositioning, the channel intends to break through the clutter and cement its position as a thought leader and a distinct channel that has a strong emotional connect with its viewers. The channel boasts of a wide range of inspiring movies like Simmba, Uri, Manikarnika, Zero, Dangal, Raazi, SatyamevJayate, Secret Superstar, Toilet – Ek Prem Katha, Parmanu, Padman, amongst many others.

    Zee Hindi movies cluster business head Ruchir Tiwari said, “2019 is special for us as we are hoping to build an even larger organic and loyal audience base with the brand repositioning of our marquee channel – Zee Cinema. Since its inception, the channel has stood for three things: movies, masti and magic. When we see underdogs take on extraordinary goals, despite all adversities and difficulties, we can relate to them. New age cinema is all about bringing the extraordinary together to create nonchalant magic. With the commencement of a new era in cinema, the brand decided to undergo a total visual transformation including a shift in brand focus – Seene Mein Cinema. As ZEEL completes 25 years, this not only makes us feel extremely proud but also encourages us to do better.”

    He added, “The channel’s initial thought was to be the go to channel for Bollywood fans, but today we have managed to re-define ourselves and create a category for ourselves. This year we want our viewers to break away from the shackles of their shortcomings and live a life that is an inspiration for all. We are defined by the moments when we decide to never give up and take that risk. Our new brand campaign is an ode to all who have the jazba in them to not let the hurdles of life demotivate their spirit of living.”

    ZEEL CMO Prathyusha Agarwal said, “It is said that life inspires movies. With our new brand philosophy ‘Jazba hai jeene mein, jab cinema hai seene mein’ we want to urge our viewers to take inspiration from cinema and chase the extraordinary. It is the spirit of seeing the silver lining and the belief that nothing is impossible that helps us sail through the most difficult situations in life. Hindi cinema boasts of many inspirational stories that give us the courage to take a leap forward. The brand positioning ‘Seene Mein Cinema’ celebrates the jazba that is hidden inside every individual and would like to encourage them to embrace life with open arms.”

  • ZEEL’s Siju Prabhakaran on TRAI tariff order impact, regional growth and rural viewership

    ZEEL’s Siju Prabhakaran on TRAI tariff order impact, regional growth and rural viewership

    MUMBAI: The situation created by the new TRAI tariff order (NTO) has become a reality check for the whole television industry. Big networks could earlier ensure that several channels are clubbed together by the DPO but now with power in the hands of the consumer, each channel has to fight hard for every TV set. Indiantelevision.com caught up with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) south cluster head and Zee Tamil business head Siju Prabhakaran, discussing the impact of the regime on its regional cluster’s viewership and advertising pattern, the scope of regional TV viewing against mushrooming OTT platforms and others.

    He is of the opinion that unique content will always get your channel to be picked. Breaking the myth that rural audiences aren’t engaged, Prabhakaran says that, in fact, rural viewers are more loyal than urban viewers.

    Edited Excerpts: 

    Could you elaborate a bit about the performance of the south cluster channels? Has the viewership increased or decreased?

    We, as a network, have a healthy growth this year. We have our strong number 2 channel in Tamil which is Zee Tamil. We have also seen a huge growth in fiction. Even in Karnataka, Zee Kannada is the number 1 channel this year. That is a big shift from last year where we were in second place and this has come on the back of great fiction and non-fiction content where we have always been very strong. Part of the growth of the cluster has also been possible because of the launch of Zee Keralam.

    How has been the impact on the viewership pattern due to the implementation of the new TRAI tariff order?

    As per BARC’s rules, we are not in a position to quote number. Having said that, we do have an advantage from the TRAI tariff order that the consumers select the channel that they want and they pay for only those channels. The making is in their hands, so the brands and channels which have been built on the back of great content, always get picked. We do see Zee channels being picked.

    What do you think is the impact of the TRAI tariff order on the whole regional space?

    We know for a fact that India is a country of many languages and if you give good content in their own language, they would rather prefer that. To that extent, regional content is growing across India and in the southern regional space there has been a great penetration of TV. This growth will have an impact on advertising and subscription because viewers are willing to watch and pay for it. But the other aspect is that we need to improve the advertising rates in the regional space.

    Several consumers had complained of a blackout due to the implementation of NTO. Did that affect you in any form?

    There were obviously timelines set and there were many extensions that happened but the whole transition for the regional segment has been very smooth. There wasn’t any blackout as such, there must have been a few issues here and there but consumers have been asking for the in-demand channels.

    Will this new regime also affect your content strategy? Especially since bills are rising and consumers could be forced to unsubscribe some channels.

    While the regime has come now, consumer focus was always there because in this business consumers’ love for content is what we want. Yes, it is more responsibility on content providers and broadcasters and for that we are continuously keeping an ear to the ground to understand consumer preferences and changes so that we can make our content strategy on the basis of that.

    It was reported that the Adex on Hindi GECs reduced to 9 per cent in FY18 as compared to an increase of 5.4 per cent in regional channels. What, according to you, is the reason?

    There are two aspects to it. First is the huge quantity of content that is now being offered in regional versus previously where English or Hindi was the focus. Second is the quality of content. The formats, the best of storytelling and films are available in regional markets and the scale is only improving. The quality of making is also equal to some national market shows. Even OTT platforms are making good regional content today.

    As you said, OTT platforms are constantly investing in regional content. Does that add more pressure on regional TV? How is regional TV competing with OTT?

    If you look at the viewership data, the time spent on TV is growing. TV as a medium is only growing. But having said that, OTT is giving a lot of original content and content that is available on TV. So the good way to look at it is that both will grow at a different level. Maybe since it’s a new space and it will grow at a much faster pace, but TV is a more stabilised medium.

    In rural areas, do you think consumers will be willing to pay for the regional channels? How are you attracting these rural audiences?

    Yes! In every region, there is always an upper hand rural market and conventional understanding is that rural areas are more rooted in language culture. If we are giving content that resonates with the rural audience, they are more loyal than urban audiences.

    With IPL ongoing and with elections around the corner, do you think that the viewership pattern for the regional segment is going to be affected? Any plans to alter your programming line-up?

    IPL has been going on for more than 10 years now so broadcasters know their timings too. Elections are also a periodic phenomenon that comes after 4-5 years. One needs to understand that most of the channels are habit driven channels and they are the part and parcel of daily entertainment. We do have launches planned across our channels. So these things don’t matter as such.

  • Big Ganga launches 4 new Bhojpuri shows

    Big Ganga launches 4 new Bhojpuri shows

    MUMBAI: Big Ganga, ZEE Entertainment Enterprise Ltd’s Bhojpuri general entertainment channel in Bihar, Jharkhand, and Purvanchal is all set to cater to the demands of its audience for original content with two hours of weekday and one hour of weekend with four new shows.

    All shows will be aired from 18 March, Monday to Friday between the time band 6 pm to 8 pm and Saturday to Sunday from 6 pm to 8 pm. All the new shows are offered to the viewers in a bid to entertain the entire family viewing during the prime time slot.

    Big Ganga business head Amarpreet Singh Saini said, “In the region we have received high demand for original content, especially amongst genres like socio-mytho and comedy, which is also is amongst the most consumed genres in the non-Bhojpuri content space as per the consumer research data. Thus we are extremely confident that through our fiction offerings we will be catering to this need gap and will once again be triumphing our core consumers’ cause.  With the backing of iconic and topical non-fiction properties, we are sure to further deepen our pride positioning amongst Bhojpuri viewers as they will now have their own original Bhojpuri Prime Time. We are very optimistic about a positive and buoyant response from our viewers.”

    On weekdays, the prime time will start with ‘Memsaab No 1’. This will be followed by the first-time launch of two Bhojpuri fiction shows for the region given the growing demand from viewers – Divya Shakti and Bagal Wali Jaan Maareli. Adding to the list will be Raag Chunavi to facilitate relaxed weekend viewing. With the channel being a prominent entity on Free Dish and other distribution networks (Airtel, D2H, Tata Sky, Dish TV), this quartet of offerings shall cater to the growing demographic of the Bhojpuri-speaking audience in the region.

    ZEEL regional hindi speaking markets cluster head Amit Shah further added, “Bhojpuri entertainment is one of the fastest growing industries in the country and being a network with one of the highest viewership in the market, it is our key focus. The market has grown exponentially in the past few years and like other regional Hindi speaking markets, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Purvanchal regions are also seeking differentiated customized regional content. We at ZEE have always set new benchmarks in national as well as regional content space. With our new launches, we aim to form a further deeper bond with our viewers by offering content that resonates with their sensibilities as well as caters to their growing aspiration. With these launches, we are not only making inroads in the region but are opening doors for many of our stakeholders as well as advertisers. We have some of the most talented names associated with these shows which have received an unprecedented viewership in this respective belt.”

    Memsaab No.1 is a reality series in the region. It will provide a status platform for women to display their skills across dance, music, games and various challenging activates to win the coveted title of being the best Memsaab of the season.

    Bagal Wali Jaan Maareli is a fun-filled ride of two neighbouring gentlemen who despite being in love with their wives, also strongly adhere to the idea of ‘love thy neighbour’s wife’. The show’s quirky humour is bound to be a success with young and old alike, given the region’s high liking for OTT.

    Divya Shakti is a socio-mythological fiction showcasing stories of the power of faith and bhakti. The show will feature topical vrats, festivals, regional spiritual figure, bhakti and miracle stories, which shall evoke a high connect amongst the viewer.

    Raag Chunavi will be a multi-talent format non-fiction show featuring the region’s best stand-up comedians, comedy poets, mimicry artists, who will take pot-shots at various election-related themes through a common man's viewpoint and pathos. It will have high traction given the topicality as well as the connect with on-ground reality of a common Indian voter.

  • ZEEL launches an exclusive campaign for its english cluster #WhereIsMyChannel

    ZEEL launches an exclusive campaign for its english cluster #WhereIsMyChannel

    MUMBAI: With TRAI initiating the implementation of the MRP regime, consumers now have a choice to select the packs and channels that best meet their content needs. While the broadcasters are busy building their bouquets and communicating the prices to the viewers, Zee English Cluster has taken a rather differentiated route. The new insightful ad campaign #WhereIsMyChannel, encourages the viewers to choose their preferred channels and inform their cable operators. While the consumers are involved in their content choices, they often tend to postpone communicating with their cable operators. The campaign prompts for this necessary action, at a time when TRAI’s deadline for the implementation of MRP regime is just around the corner. The two entertaining ad films feature Bollywood filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and the percussion maestro Sivamani as viewers of – Zee Café and &flix.

    Bringing some of the choicest films, dramas, news and lifestyle content for the Indian viewers, Zee Premium Cluster is the destination for carefully curated collection of entertaining international content. With a powerful bouquet – Zee Prime English Pack – comprising &flix, Zee Café, LF and Wion, priced at an attractive Rs. 15/- per month, viewers are truly spoilt for choice when it comes to compelling TV shows and the biggest Hollywood hits, alongside international news, food and lifestyle content. For those who appreciate content that is compelling, &PrivéHD brings riveting, award-winning films that stimulate the mind and enthrall viewers. Bringing this world of nuanced cinema, Zee Prime English HD Pack comprising – &Privé HD, Zee Café HD, &flix HD, LF HD is priced at Rs 25/- making premium content more accessible.

    What is also striking about the campaign is that it comes at an opportune time when Zee Café is going to launch a plethora of new shows like the iconic music reality show American Idol, the endurance-based reality show inspired and hosted by Dwayne Johnson – Titan Games and the final season of The Big Bang Theory. Not just this, &flix too has an exciting line-up of new blockbuster Hollywood films to be premiered in the coming few months.

    With #WhereIsMyChannel campaign, Zee English Cluster attempts to throw light on the need to inform the cable operators for your content choices. The first TVC shows Anurag in his residential society where he inadvertently bumps into his cable operator. Anurag is seen rather disheartened as he has been missing some of the biggest Hollywood hits on his favourite movie channel – &flix. Puzzled, the cable operator is caught completely unaware of Anurag’s content tastes, since he sees Anurag as a Hindi filmmaker. The film breaks into the broadcaster driving home the message – ‘Your Cable Operator May Not Really Know You.’ so inform him of your pack choice.

    The film with Sivamani revolves around a similar encounter with his cable operator as he is unable to view the latest episodes of American Idol on Zee Café. The cable operator is unaware of Sivamani’s interest in music which leads to his assumptions that he is only fond of fashion and lifestyle channels.

    Prathyusha Agarwal, Chief Marketing Officer, ZEEL, said, “The discerning urban English consumer is highly involved in their content choices. However, selecting their channel packs is new behavior that they are currently not used to. Through this communication our objective was to nudge them towards becoming more active in informing the cable operator of their channel pack choice. We also wanted to bring alive our insight that the “Cable Operator May Not Really Know You” and hence inform him of your pack choice.”

    The campaign was conceptualized and executed by Zee English cluster, along with their creative partner for this campaign – tiqui-taka.

    Sharing his views on conceptualizing the campaign, Jigar Fernandes, Founder, tiqui-taka, said, “We changed the lens and saw the cable guys point or view. How will he ever know what channels you like? We stayed with this for a while before we finally cracked it by bringing in the expert celeb angle – if a cable guy can misjudge a well-known celebrity, it could happen to anyone. We took a shuddh desi Hindi script for a premium English channel. And Zee was cool enough to embrace it! The one with Mr. Sivamani followed later.”

  • ZEE5 and Apigate announce a landmark partnership at Mobile World Congress

    ZEE5 and Apigate announce a landmark partnership at Mobile World Congress

    MUMBAI: Multi-lingual digital entertainment platform ZEE5 today announced a strategic partnership with Apigate to deliver the largest bouquet of content across languages and genres to audiences globally.

    ZEE5, which is a part of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) – a global Media and Entertainment powerhouse – offers 100,000 hours of Indian Movies, TV Shows, News, Music, Videos and exclusive Originals, across 12 languages including Hindi, English, Bengali, Punjabi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri and Gujarati. It also offers 60+ popular Live TV channels, including ZEE’s best loved channels.

    This collaboration brings the plethora of ZEE5’s exciting content, including top TV Shows like Kumkum Bhagya, Jodhaa Akbar and Sembaruthi, blockbusters like Kedarnath, Veere Di Wedding and Mersal, and Originals like Abhay (Kunal Kemmu), Final Call (Arjun Rampal), Rangbaaz (Saqib Saleem) and Sharate Aaj (Parambrata Chattopadhyay) to audiences in 11 countries globally, and will leverage on Apigate’s next-generation API ecosystem to create innovative value propositions for customers.

    Through this partnership, ZEE5 is leveraging not only Direct Carrier Billing which offers consumers a secure and convenient payment solution but also going beyond that to offer bundling, wallets and application to person messaging for all subscribers.

    “As content creators, we’re creating rich and engaging content across multiple languages for our viewers across the globe. We have an ambitious growth agenda to expand ZEE5’s reach to a wider audience segment across global markets, and we’re very happy to announce our partnership with Apigate which will enable us to do that, said Amit Goenka, CEO, ZEE International and Z5 Global

    “We’ve set out to establish ZEE5 as the clear go-to market destination for language content for South Asians and beyond, in the shortest possible time. We’re thrilled to partner with Apigate for this, given their ability to remove the complexities of multiple contracts which enables us to scale quickly. We look forward to jointly taking our fabulous bouquet of content to markets around the globe.” said Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer- ZEE5 Global

    Zoran Vasiljev, Chief Executive Officer, Apigate said, “We are excited to partner with a well-known brand like ZEE5 as this is a testament to the relevance of Apigate’s platform in empowering digital transformation for businesses.”

    Raja Mansukhani, Senior Vice President APAC, Apigate added, “Having built a world-class ecosystem of Mobile Network Operators, we are able to give ZEE5 access to customers all around the world by enabling expansion through one connection.”

    Apigate’s global network reaches 3.5 billion people, comprising more than 110 mobile network operators across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Latin America.