CQ- Zee backs off-beat fare

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited's (Zee) new channel, Zindagi, could be the start of re-inventing of the network's entertainment channel bouquet. Zindagi is a mass general entertainment channel (GEC) that will showcase content from neighbouring Pakistan and is Zee's attempt at making international content mass-ready.

The channel airs on June 23, across India and test signals are already on. In the first phase, the channel will bring fiction content from Pakistan that would be culturally relevant to India as well, for example, stories about immigrant South Asian families. Zee has acquired 4,000 hours of content from various producers in Pakistan.

Commenting on the development ZEE, MD Puneet Goenka states that, facing the twin industry challenges of digital subscriptions and 12-minute ad cap, the launch of a new GEC will help Zee increase its ad inventory. "The market share of GECs has increased from 34 per cent in 2008 to 40 per cent in 2013. Last year, when we launched Zee Anmol in the FTA (free-to-air) space, it expanded the FTA share within Hindi GECs from 6 per cent to 8 per cent, as other networks followed. Research conducted across cities for Zindagi has revealed that the audience wants alternative content, as has already been demonstrated in film-viewing, and we aim to bring this fresh alternative to our viewers on television,". 

In the era of digitsation, a network's bouquet strength is critical. After the split with the distribution joint-venture with Star India, MediaPro, Zee has to move fast in getting value propositions to increase its bargaining power with distributors and local cable operators. With Zindagi, Zee has taken a step towards strengthening its bouquet by occupying a space which may seem risky on the onset, but could end up being a game-changer in a fatigued GEC space.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/national-news/item/4887-cq-zee-backs-off-beat-fare.html
Source: http://cablequest.org/news/national-news/item/4887-cq-zee-backs-off-beat-fare.html