Streaming giant ZEE5 remains steadfast in its commitment to bring the best local content across India as well as to the Southeast Asian diaspora around the world. The service, owned by ZEE TV, launched in 2018 in more than 190 countries and available in 12 languages including English, continues to conquer the world, after landing in the USA last year, where it made available the best content from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh either with Premium subscription or ad-free viewing.
The service assured earlier this year that it planned to double its production of original content, surpassing its 2021 mark of 51 originals titles released, which it plans to grow its subscriber base, which now stands at 101.9 million monthly active users (MAU) globally and about 9.6 million daily active users (DAUs) as of December 2021.
‘We have grown out to be the leading streaming platform globally when it comes to South Asian entertainment today both in the US, where we carved a very strong niche for ourselves, and across the globe, and we look to consolidate that leadership even further now’, told Archana Anand, CBO, ZEE5 Global.
The executive announced that for this plan, they are driving deep investments into building out their content library not only in Hindi, but also in other popular Indian languages like Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Punjabi etc. so that they can cater to the different Indian language speaking communities.
The OTT operates under the umbrella of ZEE, one of the TV giants in India, which has different businesses verticals, where linear is one of them. Anand ensured that both Businesses, traditional and digital work closely together on several fronts. ‘The TV shows broadcast on ZEE’s linear channels across markets and languages are a key draw among diaspora audiences the world over and attract a loyal audience base on ZEE5 as VOD content, which in turn drives additional visibility for the shows’.
At the same time, she explained that with edgier, bolder originals, ZEE5 is also able to attract and capture the critical younger demographic which helps expand the audience base of the network at large. ‘Joint marketing efforts both on-ground and on-air are again another area where the businesses drive significant synergies,’ she added.
The service makes more than 2 million hours of content available, with 15 minutes QoQ rise in average watch time. An average of 201 minutes of content per month and, in addition to its dedicated application, continues to add distribution partners in the countries where it is available, such as Telcos as Vodafone, Airtel; also in smart box and smart tvs like FireTV, Samsung, Xiaomi and Oneplus devices, LG, among others.
Ashok Namboodiri, CBO, ZEE International Business, also mentioned their new slate is full of varied genres, as well they have seen a good traction performance of action, crime, thriller, and romance with appealing production quality. The exec highlighted Rashtra Kavach Om, an action film where an undercover cop creates havoc to safeguard his country’s interest.; also State of Siege: Temple Attack, which follows the witness of the heroic efforts of military commandos to stop a bloody terrorist attack; London Confidential, an espionage thriller showcasing the race against time of a diligent Indian intelligence agent.; Attack: Part One, an intriguing sci-fi thriller revolving around an army soldier who becomes the country’s first bionic super-soldier, among others.
As far as international co-pros and alliances, Namboodiri commented they work with broadcasters, pay-tv programmers, OTT platforms, and aggregators across the regions to bring its content to international audiences: ‘After making a mark in Southeast Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Indian Global Diaspora markets over the past three decades, ZEE is now looking forward to wooing & entertaining the audiences in Latin America. We see many similarities between Spanish and Indian cultures like strong extended family ties, respect for tradition, living in hectic cities amidst economic development, and aspirational desires’.
The exec also believes that its content allows Latin American families to consume series and movies that are relevant to their lifestyle while, at the same time, being transported to far away, exotic locales and landscapes. ‘We have also forayed into Co-productions and are looking to work with local talent across geographies and are open for co-production opportunities, especially in the Latam’, he added.
