Movie Channels
1 pm weekend slot, the second primetime for English movie channels
MUMBAI: No one will disagree that at 1pm in the afternoon, the TV remote is controlled by housewives. But on weekends comes an added dilemma. Joining the fray for the remote are her children, husband and in laws all tuning in to watch their favourite movies or shows at the same time. In the ensuing melee are English movie channels that are all smiles as the 1 pm slot, particularly during the weekends has seen an increase in viewership.
“The 1 pm slot today is the most important slot after the evening primetime as it garners the second highest viewership after the 9pm slot,” informs Romedy Now and Movies Now content head Mansi Shrivastav. The channel believes it is a potential target for repeats of previous night’s blockbuster movies. Earlier titles include X-Men: The Last Stand and Ghost Rider-The Spirit of Venegence.
Similar thoughts are echoed by Star India English cluster general manager Kevin Vaz who says that the genre is heavily consumed at this time with Star Movies scraping a 21 per cent relative share. Knowing the slot’s potential, Star Movies had introduced it as a ‘one break movie time’ band to give the viewer a theatre like experience.
Out of the entire day, the afternoon band contributes nearly 25 per cent of the viewership to the English movie genre, claims Sony Pix and AXN EVP and business head Saurabh Yagnik. “The 1pm slot is the second biggest day part for Sony Pix and majority of the viewership comes from younger demographics,” he says. This has come from premieres such as Skyfall, Hobbit, Captain Philips, Hobbit 2, Grown Ups 2 and MIB 3.
Most channels show repeat telecast on weekdays while weekends are reserved for big premieres.
However, Turner International India English Entertainment south Asia senior director and network head Dhawal Katkar feels that weekday mornings and afternoons are emerging as the new favourite amongst youngsters for its two channels WB and HBO. Whereas, the genre itself has been witnessing a drop in primetime viewership for the entire week, he adds. HBO’s afternoon lineup includes GI Joe: Retaliation, The Hangover 3, Jack Reacher, The Great Gatsby and Star Trek: Into Darkness while WB’s premieres include Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Due Date, Spiderman, Suckerpunch.
However, channels strictly ensure that adult movies are not repeated in the afternoon. While a movie shown at night may have adult content, the same cannot be shown in the afternoon due to children being present in the viewing audience.
According to media planners, a 10 second ad slot for the 1pm slot movie could command rates in the range of Rs 500 to Rs 4000 in the weekday with a 10 to 15 per cent rise on the weekends.
Maxus managing partner north and east region Navin Khemka says, “Brands are keen to invest at this spot due to the increasing number of premieres and it draws kids and teenagers as well.” The weekend slot is heavy on content he adds.
Another media planner quipped that the weekday spot is picked by women centric brands such as FMCGs and online shopping portals so this time should be more sharply targeted. However Madison Media COO Karthik Lakshminarayan informs, “1pm slot is not a high viewership slot, rather viewership starts picking up post 2pm.”
While media planners vary on the role the 1pm weekend spot plays, they all agree that it helps garner added viewership in a very fragmented segment.
Movie Channels
Zee5 launches five free FAST channels on Samsung TV Plus India
New genre-led channels bring comedy, drama, horror, classics and South films to Smart TVs.
MUMBAI: Zee5 just turned Samsung Smart TVs into a free entertainment buffet because when premium content costs nothing, even the remote control starts smiling. Zee5 has launched five curated free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels on Samsung TV Plus India, making high-quality, genre-specific entertainment available subscription-free to millions of Samsung Smart TV owners across the country.
The five channels now live are:
Zee Comedy Nation – Popular comedy shows and movies
Zee Dil Se – Compelling drama series
ZEE Horror Nights – Horror and supernatural content
ZEE Cine Classic – Timeless Indian films
ZEE South Flix – High-energy South Indian films dubbed in Hindi
All content is drawn from Zee5’s extensive library and programmed in a lean-back, always-on format ideal for large-screen viewing. This launch strengthens Zee5’s Connected TV strategy at a time when 64 per cent of its premium content watch time already comes from connected devices.
Zee5 chief business officer Siju Prabhakaran said, “At Zee5, we believe accessibility and scale will define the next phase of digital entertainment growth in India. Our presence on Samsung TV Plus strengthens our Connected TV strategy, enabling viewers to discover curated, genre-led content in a seamless, free, and premium environment.”
Samsung TV Plus India head of partnerships Kunal Mehta added, “Local partnerships are at the heart of how we grow Samsung TV Plus in India. Zee Entertainment is one of India’s most iconic media brands, and bringing their channels to our service means millions more Samsung Smart TV owners can enjoy premium local content, subscription-free.”
The channels are available directly through the pre-installed Samsung TV Plus app with no login or subscription required. This marks another milestone in Zee5’s CTV expansion and builds on its growing international presence, with Zee channels already available on Samsung TV Plus across Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
In a streaming world where paywalls often block the fun, Zee5 and Samsung have quietly opened the gates, proving that sometimes the best things in life (and on your TV) really are free especially when they come with a side of comedy, drama, horror, classics and South Indian blockbuster energy.
