GECs
BIG RTL Thrill beefs up weekend programming
MUMBAI: BIG RTL Thrill with its new additions is all set to turn up the entertainment quotient for men through the weekends. The channel which is available in dual feeds of Hindi and English will premier two internationally recognised shows – Bellator and Love in the Wild starting 5 October.
The new line up will kick-start with Bellator, the largest tournament based mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion in the world. The world renowned series that was launched in 2008 has showcased nine successful seasons internationally and holds tournaments across weight classes. With Bellator, BIG RTL Thrill aims to give its audiences an hour of exclusive and exceptional action entertainment.
Next on the anvil is Love in the Wild. The show is a reality based programme wherein ten young and single girls and boys are marooned on an island in Costa Rica. The boys and girls are paired as couples and participate in various adventurous activities while they seek love. In order to find true love, the contestants have to undergo hardships and challenges that will test their compatibility, chemistry and mental grit.
BIG RTL Thrill vice president Vijay Koshy said, “We are delighted to bring these two new fantastic shows to our audiences over weekends. While Bellator is an internationally well established property amongst mixed martial art fans, Love in the Wild promises to provide for scintillating content in the late night slot. We are confident that this mix of action-entertainment shows will work well with audiences, while offering marketers with properties that promise best ROI.”
The new shows on the channel aim to tap into the expanded market for BIG RTL Thrill following its dual-feed launch earlier this year. The channel, which is available on all leading networks, offers male viewers international action-programming in both Hindi and English across key 1mn+ HSMs.
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.
