Zee5 revamps platform with AI-led discovery and five content universes

MUMBAI: Zee5 is giving its entertainment menu a digital makeover, putting AI, personalisation and easier discovery at the centre of a sweeping revamp across mobile and Connected TV. The redesigned platform organises its offering into five distinct universes Premium Entertainment, Free 5, KidZ, TV and Sports in a bid to make it easier for viewers to find content without having to wade through an endless streaming catalogue.

Personalisation sits at the core of the new experience, with AI being used to make content discovery more relevant and interactions smoother. Zee5 has also introduced an AI-powered customer support assistant designed to provide near-instant help with subscriptions, playback, access, content and devices.

The redesign has been built around the changing way Indians consume entertainment, particularly across mobile phones and connected screens. Zee5 said it used existing app feedback, consumer studies and focus group discussions across markets to map viewing journeys and identify areas where the experience could be made simpler without compromising the big-screen experience.

The platform also conducted intensive Bugathons involving product, engineering, quality assurance and design teams to test and refine the revamped experience before launch. Zee5 said it is also strengthening data privacy through safeguards it describes as best-in-class and category-leading.

The product overhaul comes alongside a broader expansion of Zee5’s content proposition. Over the last quarter, the platform secured rights to the FIFA World Cup 2026 and 2030, followed by a content slate spanning seven languages.

It is now adding a premium English entertainment slate through collaborations with PVR INOX Pictures and Lionsgate Play. The offering includes digital premieres such as Normal, featuring Bob Odenkirk, Henry Winkler and Lena Headey; The Invite, starring Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton and Olivia Wilde; and Anxious People, featuring Angelina Jolie and Jason Segel.

The line-up also includes Babies, featuring Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick; The Wizard of the Kremlin, starring Jude Law; How to Make a Killing, starring Glen Powell and Margaret Qualley; Tony, featuring Dominic Sessa; and Paper Tiger, starring Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller.

The expanded English slate gives Zee5 a larger collection of global cinema and Hollywood talent as it seeks to broaden the role of the platform beyond its established Indian-language offering.

At the other end of the subscription spectrum, Free 5 is being rebuilt as a broader free-to-watch entertainment proposition. It now brings together series, films, Korean and Chinese dramas, anime, news, micro dramas and content from the creator ecosystem.

The expanded offering covers more languages, genres, formats and voices, with no subscription required. The broader free proposition also creates additional opportunities for advertisers to target different audience groups based on language, genre and viewing occasion.

Tejkarran Singh Bajaj, Business Head – Zee5 India and AI & Innovation, said the platform’s next phase was focused on making entertainment easier to discover and more relevant, while expanding its content depth across languages and formats.

For advertisers, he said the wider content mix provides a larger canvas to reach distinct audience cohorts.

Pramod Prakash, Chief Technology Officer, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., said the redesign focused on the hundreds of small interactions that shape a streaming experience, with the aim of making the journey more natural, responsive and less demanding.

As viewing continues to hop between phones, televisions and formats, Zee5 is betting that the next streaming battle will not be fought only over what viewers watch, but also over how quickly they can find it.