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    ZEE expands regional portfolio with 4 new TV channels

    Synopsis

    The four new channels include – Punjabi general entertainment channel Zee Punjabi and three movie channels - Zee Biskope (Bhojpuri), Zee Thirai (Tamil) and Zee Picchar (Kannada). The company said that while the company has a reach of over 800 million people across India, almost 650 million is through non-Hindi offerings.

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    ZEE already offers regional content in eight regional languages - Marathi, Bengali, Oriya, and Bhojpuri in the Hindi speaking markets and all four southern languages.
    MUMBAI: Expanding its linear TV portfolio, Indian entertainment company Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) is launching four new regional channels. The move is in line with its strategy to go deeper and serve the many ‘Bharats’ within the country.

    The four new channels include – Punjabi general entertainment channel Zee Punjabi and three movie channels - Zee Biskope (Bhojpuri), Zee Thirai (Tamil) and Zee Picchar (Kannada).

    Talking about the reason to launch regional channels, Punit Misra, CEO - Domestic Broadcast Business, ZEE stated that while the company has a reach of over 800 million people across India, almost 650 million is through non-Hindi offerings.

    “We have always believed that deep understanding of cultures across the many Bharats, and then serving people entertainment rooted in each culture is what wins hearts, be it through original shows, or through curation of content like movies,” Misra said.

    “From a highly TV penetrated but hugely under consumed latent Punjabi GEC opportunity to insatiable, thriving demand for movies in the Bhojpuri, Tamil and Kannada markets, the regional need gaps present the perfect opening to further deepen these bonds,” said Prathyusha Agarwal, Chief Marketing Officer, ZEE.

    Zee Punjabi will have over 20 hours of original weekly content. Epic story of ‘Heer Ranjha’ will lead the fiction offerings. The channel will also have comedy, drama and biggest singing reality show of Punjab – ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ with Gurdas Maan as mentor and Jazzy B, Sonu Kakkar and Jaidev Kumar as judges.

    Zee Thirai, meanwhile, will offer viewers a library of 400+ titles from Tamil cinema including a wide spectrum of genres from blockbuster hits to critically acclaimed movies which include ‘Mersal’, ‘2.0’, ‘Kanna’ and more. The channel will premiere one film every week of the year with 52 premieres in 52 weeks. There will also be ‘break less’ movies in the afternoon slot. The look of the channel will be unveiled at the Zee Cine Awards Tamil in January 2020.

    Similarly, Kannada movie channel Zee Picchar will have a library of 350+ titles spanning across genres and generations from timeless classics to new age trendsetters. The channel will launch with 12 premieres to be aired on 12 consecutive days.

    Zee Biskope, the Bhojpuri movie channel, also has a library of 300+ movies with the biggest blockbuster movies of the last five years and the biggest hits of the top 3 superstars of Bhojiwood – Nirahua, Pawan and Khesari.

    ZEE already offers regional content in eight regional languages - Marathi, Bengali, Oriya, and Bhojpuri in the Hindi speaking markets and all four southern languages. Its overall portfolio include 42 SD and HD channels across various entertainment genres.


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