GECs
GECs’ new big-ticket offering
MUMBAI: For couch potatoes, it’s time to rejoice as broadcasters are ready with treats for their viewers as the new year arrives.
The channel, which has over the years changed the way stories are told and made characters a household name, is once again set for a different take. The channel is back yet again with a detective series Private Investigator (PI). It had first experimented with the genre in 2011 with a show called Arjun which ran for good two years.
Produced by Fremantle India, the promos of the show have already hit the television screens. The series is about Raffe Roy Choudhary who is playing the central character, and has special powers like thinking at a lightning speed, with his guesses never going wrong. Choudhary is a 21-year old young college going student who helps the police in several crime cases such as kidnapping, suicide. Moreover, born with natural instincts and sharp problem solving skills to solve crime cases, he has the ability to see things which others cannot see. Vrajesh Hirjee is playing the police inspector, while Choudhary is played by Mrinal Dutt. The channel has roped in Colgate Plax Active Salt as the presenting sponsor and Garnier Black Naturals is the co-powered by sponsor.
To give viewers a non-stop dose of entertainment, the series will replace India’s Raw Star from 7 December and will occupy the 8pm slot every Sunday.
Keeping with the attempt to not single out the youngsters, the channel is breaking away from the saas-bahu dramas and is set to launch a comic love story christened Tu Mera Hero. The channel has teamed up with ace producers Shashi and Sumeet Mittal, who have produced popular shows like Diya Aur Baati Hum (Star Plus) and Punar Vivah (Zee TV).
The promos, which have been doing the rounds for quite some time now, start with the male lead, Titu, talking about his laziness. He believes that though people think he doesn’t do any work, he has conducted a research on unemployment in India. He reasons that unemployment in the country is existent because everyone wants to work and goes on to say that if more people didn’t want to work then unemployment would be eradicated from the nation.
It will hit the television screens from 22 December and replace the on-going Cinevistaa’s show Ek Hasina Thi at 8 pm.
Similarly, it’s going to be a power-packed start of the year for Colors. From Jhalak Dikhla Jaa to 24 to Bigg Boss to Comedy Nights With Kapil, Colors has consistently showcased path breaking shows that have redefined television. Early this year, after a gap of two years, it brought back adventurous reality show Khatron Ke Khiladi season five in a re-packaged avatar.
Now the channel is back with the sixth edition of the series that will make for an explosive entertainment viewing with 13 celebrity contestants.
This season, Khatron Ke Khiladi will transform into a ‘Darr Ka Blockbuster Returns’ where the popular celebrity contestants will endeavor to overcome their deepest phobias. Bollywood’s ace action entertainer Rohit Shetty continues to be the host for the season.
Produced by Endemol India, it will be shot in locales of Cape Town. Sources close to the development reveal that the shooting has already begun from 24 November and will go on till 20 December 2014. The reality show will start as soon as Bigg Boss eight ends. Pegged for a weekend property, as of now, it has been penned for close to six weeks.
The 13 celebrities who will fight with their fears are Sana Khan, Sagrika Ghatge, Archana Vijaya, Rashmi Desai, Ridhi Dogra, Asha Negi, Nathalia Kaur, Ashish Chaudhury, Chang, Harshad Arora, Iqbal Khan, Hussain Kuwajerwala, Rakesh Kumar, Siddharth Bharadwaj and Nandish Sandhu entering the show as wildcard entry.
On the digital front, the celebrities have already started tweeting about their excitement to be on the show with the hash tag #KKKonColors.
While last season the production of the non-fiction show was pegged at Rs 50-55 crore, this season media planners estimate it to be around Rs 60-65 crore.
Secondly, the channel is set to launch for the first time a historical period drama Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat. Produced by Contiloe Productions, it will captivatingly showcase the journey and life time of Emperor Ashoka, from his rise to power to his state of penance after the gory blood-bath in the historical battle of Kalinga that made him give up war to embrace Buddhism.
The compelling story of this Great Emperor has been written by the acclaimed and contemporary author Ashok Banker, who will be making his comeback on television after nearly two decades. Sources from the industry reveal that the production cost of a mythological show per episode is double the amount of what a daily fiction show costs. Thus, the production cost per episode ranges from Rs 13-14 lakh.
Though the launch date is not yet fixed, sources close to the development believe that it will be a weekday property and will air once Bigg Boss eight sees its curtains down at 9pm.
GECs
Zee scales syndication with global tie-ups, 350 plus channel MCN
Vertical, dubbed and audio formats boost digital reach
MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. is giving its content library a fresh passport. The company has stepped up its syndication push, signing global partnerships, experimenting with new-age formats and building a multi-channel network that now spans more than 350 channels.
With the newly secured MCN licence, Zee can manage, distribute and monetise content across leading digital platforms at scale, strengthening its presence in the fast-growing creator and short-form ecosystem.
To keep pace with changing viewing habits, the company is also reshaping its content into formats built for the small screen in your hand. In a tie-up with micro-drama platform Story TV, select titles are being reworked into vertical, short-duration episodes tailored for mobile-first audiences.
Beyond India, the syndication team is widening its global footprint with foreign-language dubbing and regional partnerships across Europe, Africa and Latin America, opening up fresh markets for Indian stories.
Zee is also tapping into the audio boom. It has begun licensing audio remake rights for legacy properties such as Zee Horror Show, with several more titles lined up for audio-first adaptations.
On the digital front, the company has made progress in monetising non-exclusive rights for library films, while converting select shows and movies from horizontal to vertical formats to improve discoverability on short-form platforms.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. business head syndication Vinod Johri, said syndication has emerged as a strong growth lever for the company. He noted that the combination of a large MCN network, global partnerships and new formats such as vertical video and audio is helping build a future-ready engine that extracts more value from the content library.
Together, these moves signal a platform-agnostic approach to storytelling, as Zee repackages, localises and redistributes its IP across geographies, formats and screens, ensuring its catalogue keeps working long after the first broadcast.
