Movie Channels
Academy Awards are Star Movies’ March blockbuster
The verdict is out.
The hopes and hype surrounding the Indian entry to the 74th Academy Awards ensured Star Movies a viewership for the live event unprecedented in earlier years. The channel, which has been telecasting the event for five years, says this has been the best yet.
Not surprising. Ratings from the audience measurement agencies, just in, show that Indian viewers rose early and bright on 25 March to catch the excitement that began at 6:30 am. According to INTAM figures, Kolkata led the country’s metros with a viewership of 4.39 (TG 4+, C&S). Bangalore followed with TVRs of 2.18. Mumbai, the seat of Bollywood, however, ran a distant third with TVRs of 1.77.
Weekday and office hour obstacles notwithstanding, the event, preceded by a nearly month long on air and ground promotional activity, managed to bring in the moolah for Star Movies. Star had mass promoted the hitherto niche programme, using Lagaan as a peg to build the Star Movies brand.
The ploy worked. All 30 minutes of ad time on the three and half hour live broadcast of the ceremony were sold out. Besides, four of the nine main sponsors of the live show were mass marketers like Pepsi, Parle, Asian Paints and Bajaj. Other channels like HBO and BBC World ran Hollywood specials as a run-up to the event; the benefits of which were cashed in upon by Star.
Other cities have not fared badly either. Chennai with TVRs of 1.35 and Delhi with TVRs of 1.12 helped shore up the ratings. One million plus towns in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka too scored ratings above 1, a fair figure for such niche events, say analysts.
Figures put out by the other rating agency, AC Nielsen’s TAM ratings, are not as effusive though. Kolkata leads with TVRs of 2.8 (TG C&S 4+) and Mumbai follows with TVRs of 1.14. According to TAM, Oscar viewership was better among the C&S 15-44 AB category, Kolkata leading with 3.91, and Mumbai following with 2.2. While the overall TVRs for the six metros hover around 1.81, most other cities have not been able to cross the magic TVR figure of 1.
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In the US, though, the picture’s not so bright. The Oscars drew a 25.4 Nielsen Media Research rating on Sunday, the lowest-rated Academy Awards telecast ever, with just 41.8 million viewers, say reports. Last year’s show had the previous low record.
Lagaan has just reversed the trend in India. Will it hold in the coming years?
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.
