Movie Channels
Baahubali 2 rerun pushes Sony Max to second place across genres
BENGALURU: S S Rajamouli’s epic historical action film sequel Baahubali 2 or Baahubali the Continuation or BB2 is so far the highest grossing Indian film ever. BB2 has continued its midas touch during its screening on the idiot box as well. As reported by us earlier, the screening of the movie in week 41 of 2017 had catapulted Hindi movie channel Sony Max to fourth place, just behind three GEC channels (one Tamil and two Hindi) in Broadcast Audience Research Council’s (BARC) weekly list of top 10 channels across genres. Week 41 of 2017 was the week leading to the biggest Indian festival season- Diwali. The movie earned gold for the Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) Hindi Movies channel during Diwali week – week 42 of 2017 (Saturday, 14 October 2017 to Friday, 20 October 2017) by pushing it to number two position in the top 10 channels list across genres. With the Sun Network’s flagship Tamil GEC at the pole position, Star Max was the most watched Hindi channel in the HSM market in week 42 of 2017.
Two major Hindi GEC channels – Star India’s flagship Star Plus and Network 18’s (Viacom 18) Colors exited the top 10 channels across genres list in week 42 of 2017 to be replaced by two Telugu GEC channels. The channels that replaced the Hindi GEC stalwart channels were Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) flagship Telugu GEC Zee Telugu and the Network 18 associated ETV Telugu.
Three channels each from Zeel and SPN, two channels from Star India and one channel each from The Sun Network and Network 18 comprised the list of top 10 channels across genres for week 42 of 2017. From the genres perspective, five Hindi GEC, three Telugu GEC and one channel each from the Tamil GEC and Hindi Movies genres constituted the top 10 channels across genres in week 42 of 2017.
As mentioned above, Sun TV topped the list with 1,156.707 million weekly impressions followed by Sony Max with 793.913 million weekly impressions. Three Zeel channels followed at third, fourth and fifth rank. Zeel’s FTA Zee Anmol was third with 767.550 million weekly impressions. Zee Anmol also topped the Hindi GEC genre during primetime (HSM (U+R): NCCS All : Prime Time (1800 – 2330 hrs) : 2+ Individuals), and Hindi GEC – HSM R market buoyed by Kaala Teeka in the former and Kaala Teeka and Jamai Raja in the latter.
Zee Anmol was followed by Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV. Zee TV was ranked second during primetime in the Hindi GEC HSM (U+R) and the Hindi GEC (U) markets with the help of three programmes – Kumkum Bhagya, Kundali Bhagya and Zee TV’s homegrown reality musical show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Little Champs. At fourth place in week 42 of 2017, Zee TV scored 758.374 million weekly impressions and was followed by its Telugu flagship sibling GEC Zee Telugu which scored 632.146 millon weekly impressions at fifth place.
Star India’s newly renamed FTA Hindi GEC Star Bharat came in at sixth rank in BARC’s top 10 channels list across genres in week 42 of 2017 with 605.401 million weekly impressions. At seventh place was the Network 18 associated Telugu GEC ETV Telugu with 603.007 million weekly impressions followed by SPN’s women focused Hindi GEC Star Pal at eighth place with 586.704 millon weekly impressions.
Star India’s Telugu GEC Star Maa was at ninth place in BARC’s top 10 channels list across genres in week 42 of 2017 with 578.494 million weekly impressions. At tenth place in the list was SPN’s flagship Hindi GEC Sony Entertainment Television (SET) channel with 575.613 million weekly impressions. The Amitabh Bahchan anchored Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) helped SET to garner viewership during primetime and retain its place in BARC’s top 10 channels across genres list for week 42 of 2017.
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.
