BackZee Entertainment launches new video streaming platform Zee5
Zee5, which will subsume Zee's existing video streaming platforms Ozee and Ditto TV, comes with 1 lakh hours of content including exclusive originals, movies and TV shows, music, live TV, health and lifestyle videos in 12 regional languages
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New Delhi: Television broadcaster Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd on Wednesday launched a new video streaming platform Zee5 to establish a stronger presence in the digital market for the next phase of growth.
Zee5, which will subsume Zee’s existing video streaming platforms Ozee (advertising-based) and Ditto TV (subscription-based), comes with 1 lakh hours of content including exclusive originals, Indian and international movies and TV shows, music, live television, health and lifestyle videos in 12 regional languages.
“A new platform was created because the digital growth story is happening now. Video streaming platforms have been targeting younger audiences between 18 and 35 years of age but Zee5 caters to 12 languages across the country. We are going down to tier-II and tier-III cities with strong language content and not just focusing on metros and mini-metros," said Amit Goenka, chief executive officer at Zee International and Z5 Global.
Zee5 has adopted a free plus premium pricing model with both free and paid content and will compete with the global players Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, broadcaster-owned platforms Hotstar and Voot, and SonyLIV and independent video-on-demand service providers like YuppTV, Hooq and Spuul.
The premium content of the platform will be available to consumers at a monthly charge of Rs150 (the launch offer price is Rs99) and the existing 10 million users of OZee and Ditto TV will be upgraded to Zee5.
“So far, our digital platforms have been a very small part of our business. With 4G and data prices going down, the consumption of video is skyrocketed. Almost 57% of the overall data usage is video consumption. This is the right time to launch a platform with quality content," added Goenka, without disclosing the revenue targets from Zee5.
“Talking about the numbers is not meaningful right now because Barc (Broadcast Audience Research Council, India) is yet to come out with the digital audience measurement system. Right now, the focus is on getting audiences and increasing consumption," he said.
TV ratings viewership agency Barc India’s digital media measurement products are due for launch later this year in a phased manner and will help advertisers make decisions with independent audience measurement data, which hasn’t been available so far.
Zee’s move comes at a time when advertising on digital media is all set to command 18% of the overall advertising spends in 2018 (and will go up to 25% in three years), growing at a rate of 30%. Digital media advertising is expected to touch Rs12,337 crore in 2018, up from the estimated Rs9,490 crore in 2017, according to a report This Year Next Year (TYNY) released by WPP-owned media agency GroupM.
Zee, with interests in broadcasting, movies, music, digital, live entertainment and theatre businesses, has a presence in more than 173 countries and a reach of more than 1.3 billion people around the world. “The launch of Zee5 further strengthens us as a media and entertainment powerhouse. A blend of unrivalled content offering and robust technology is the foundation of this all-new digital offering from our end," said Punit Goenka, managing director and chief executive officer at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, in a statement.
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