Zee5 Takes The 'Entertainment Inclusion' Line

Namah Chawla Jun 02, 2021

With over two lakh hours of on-demand content and 100+ live TV channels, India's homegrown OTT player, ZEE5 has a content library of over 140+ original shows and offers content across 12 Indian languages.

Recently the platform acquired the streaming rights of the much-anticipated 'Friends: The Reunion' and made the special episode available for the Indian fans of the US sitcom. Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 believes that the platform's constant endeavour to stay ahead of the industry performance will always be a guiding factor in its future initiatives.

In a conversation with BW Marketing World, Kalra speaks about the platform's content strategy, OTT regulations, broadcasting 'Friends: The Reunion' and more.

Excerpts:

ZEE5 recently broadcast 'Friends: The Reunion'. Was the response as per expectations?

Being a consumer-driven platform, it is of utmost importance for us to have a pulse over what our viewers want to watch. ZEE5 as a customer-obsessed video streaming platform has identified 100+ consumer taste clusters and we realise that something as iconic and loved as 'Friends' is an honour for us to bring to our audience - not just the existing ones but the millions of fans across the country. We are glad we could bring 'Friends: The Reunion' special for them to watch with the rest of the world and we are overwhelmed with the excitement it has been met with.

Since the sitcom has a huge Indian fan base, what impact did it have on the subscriber acquisition?

Friends: The Reunion is a premium property that has a lot of followers. So, there was a good amount of acquisition cost. For us, it is an investment made with an intent to bring high quality, once-in-a- lifetime show to the Indian audience.

We will continue to drive the momentum in 2021 by releasing 50+ theatricals and 40+ web series that will add to our extensive library of content, offering a wide array of catalogue to entertainment seekers. In line with this thought, we have already screened two impactful content tentpoles - Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai and Friends: The Reunion exclusively for the Indian market.

How has the pandemic re-defined the OTT industry? What overall impact did the second wave have on the business?

The pandemic has forced businesses to rethink the way they conduct operations, and in many cases, reinvent themselves. With more Indians becoming digital savvy and with content consumption on OTT having skyrocketed during the pandemic, the industry has grown multifold with the audience being able to enjoy personalised, quality entertainment within the safety of their homes. Leveraging our network legacy and expertise, we have carved a strong niche as India’s streaming platform of choice and a multilingual storyteller for millions of entertainment seekers. As one of the leading OTT players of the country, we grew 200 per cent during the lockdown with a steadily stabilising subscriber base.

What will stand out for your content strategy in the coming months?

We are ready to dive deep to explore more genres, multilingual content moving ahead to enlarge the ambit of the audience that we can cater to. With OTT becoming mainstream, entertainment is now open, not only for personal but also family consumption. We aim to enhance the living room experience via Connected devices and therefore augment the way entertainment is consumed by the user. On our way to exploring these, we also aim to consider every consumer preference, which therefore adds to the diversity of our content library.

We have identified multiple cohorts, and we continue to unearth more as we tap into different languages and geographies to understand content preferences of our audience and delivering bespoke stories for satisfying their appetite for on-demand entertainment.

How do you differentiate yourself in a market which continues to see a surge of OTT players?

Indians love their languages and hence naturally get inclined towards content that ZEE5 creates, keeping their cultural nuances in mind. Unlike the west, in India, the diversity in terms of languages, beliefs, traditions and culture, gives the content creators a much wider canvas to unleash their creativity.

Apart from constantly reinventing our existing business models, the focus will be to maximise our core, expand into adjacent spaces and explore new areas of business. With an undeterred focus on growth and proﬁtability, our aim would be to constantly enhance shareholder value.

Since 'Radhe' was a hybrid release, how well did it perform for ZEE5?

Being a consumer-first brand, our focus when the pandemic struck was to ensure we continue to deliver best-in-class stories to our users without any drop in quality or quantity. ZEE5 became one of the first few players in the industry to offer the pay-per-view model which was our way of bringing the box office home to Indian audiences. A multi-format release, like what we did with Radhe, was a natural extension to ensure a Salman Khan magnum opus reaches all its audience. We went back to the drawing board and used advanced innovative viewing solutions to pave the way for futuristic business models. Radhe broke all the records and became the most-watched film on Day 1 as the film garnered 4.2 million views across various platforms.

What will be ZEE5's focus on-- originals or acquiring movies/ licensed content?

These (Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai and Friends: The Reunion) tentpoles in the year so far have helped us unearth everchanging content consumption preferences and furthermore, it has given us a chance to design new ways to deliver content across devices and delight audiences consistently. Taking the trend-forward, you will see us releasing 50+ theatricals and 40+ web series that will add to our extensive library of content, offering a wide array of catalogue to entertainment seekers.

Take us through your marketing objectives in terms of brand positioning?

Our primary objective is to drive ‘Entertainment Inclusion’ and democratise access to bespoke Indian entertainment content for all the underserved markets and audiences.

India is an ethnically diverse nation, and Indians love consuming real and relatable content in their preferred languages. At ZEE5, we aspire to have best in class stories, across languages and genres, and believe people should have access to new voices, cultures, and perspectives.

What are your views on OTT regulation? How will it impact your future plans?

The government has made these regulations to empower the digital Indian consumer and help them take the right decision to watch their favourite on-demand content at a time and place of their convenience. As a consumer-centric company, it is important for us to ensure that we adhere to these guidelines and take care of the user’s needs in the best possible way. We will provide choices to our consumers as self-regulation is a high priority for us. Through a logical lens, the content can be manoeuvred and should not be a reason for restriction. We can keep the filters in mind while executing the stories keeping the best interest of the consumers in mind. The entire process will be a learning experience on both sides. Considering it is in the interest of the consumers, we want to ensure that we provide the best experience and power to them.