GECs
How Zee re-oriented its international strategy in FY2019-20
NEW DELHI: With the world grappling with a slowdown and a potential recession, companies have been tinkering around with their domestic and international strategies. India’s leading broadcaster Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zeel)- which had been grappling with its own ownership issues – is no different. Even as it has realigning its domestic business to build its digital offerings and some niche television channels, it has been doing the clipping some services in some markets, while adding some in others internationally.
Recognised as one of the most international of India’s TV networks, Zeel has been serving content in 19 languages, including nine foreign ones, through its channels which reach more than 170 countries.
It follows a two-pronged strategy for internationally– reaching the Indian and south Asian diaspora with channels in Indian languages and serving the non-Indian audience in their native languages, as it
says in its annual report for FY 20.
The change is mostly perceptible in Europe. Three channels were shut down in the UK in 2019-20, which is now a primarily an FTA market for south Asian networks. Zee One, a network channel – which it tomtommed two years ago – was also shut down in Germany in May 2020.
The network has strengthened its distribution reach in the US with a multiscreen platform presence across smart TVs, mobile, and set top box devices. It signed new distribution deals in Mexico, Peru, and Trinidad and organized the first-ever Indian Film Festival at the Embassy of India in Mexico City.
During the year, Zeel also worked towards increasing the distribution reach of its channels in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia. A total of eight productions were executed in the year of which three were in Tamil.
In Africa, the distribution reach of Zee Magic was expanded on new platforms (on digital entertainment platforms StarTimes and Starsat) and Zee Alem was introduced in the Ethiopian market in June 2020. This channel is in Amharic language.
Zeel was impacted in the middle east and north Africa (MENA) region owing to the shutting down of the south Asian language Pehla platform from OSN, one of the largest DTH operators, in the region. However, the network expanded its reach in the UAE and Qatar through the launch of new channels on existing platforms and three local Arabic series productions in Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon based on stories that were picked from the Zee format library.
GECs
EPIC Company unifies all brands under single EPIC identity
IN10 Media rebrand aligns TV, digital and films into one ecosystem
MUMBAI: The EPIC Company, formerly known as IN10 Media Network, has announced a sweeping brand consolidation, bringing its television channels, digital platforms and content IPs under a single identity, EPIC.
The move is aimed at simplifying the company’s structure while creating a more connected content ecosystem spanning television, digital and films. By aligning multiple verticals under one umbrella, the company is looking to present a sharper, more cohesive face to both audiences and partners.
As part of the transition, several channels have been rebranded to align with the EPIC identity. EPIC will now operate as EPIC TV, while Nazara becomes EPIC Bharat, Filamchi is now EPIC Bhojpuri, Gubbare transitions to EPIC Kids, and ShowBox is reintroduced as EPIC Music. Ishara will continue under the identity EPIC Parivaar, maintaining its core positioning.
The company has also refreshed EPICON, its streaming platform, to reflect a more unified and modern brand experience. The overhaul is designed to improve content discovery and create a seamless experience across platforms.
This consolidation follows the recent launch of EPIC Studio, a unified production arm that brings together Juggernaut Productions and MovieVerse Studio, as the company expands its footprint across films, OTT and television.
The EPIC Company managing director Aditya Pittie said, “As our scale has grown, it has become important to simplify how we operate and how we present ourselves to the ecosystem. This consolidation gives us a clearer, more future-ready structure to partner, invest, and build at scale, while ensuring that for viewers, the experience is more seamless and intuitive.”
With the rebrand, The EPIC Company is positioning itself as a platform-agnostic content network, focused on scale, simplicity and integrated storytelling. By bringing everything under one banner, it is aiming to make its content universe easier to navigate and harder to ignore.
