GECs
Max going to the US in October
MUMBAI: Max is steadily planning expansion overseas with its international channel, which is all set to launch in the US in October.
Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Sony CFO and Max business head NP Singh said, “We launched Max international in July. As of now we available in the Middle East on Pehla. Our next stop is the US. We are talking with different parties regarding carriage. We are currently testing in Europe and hope to launch in the third quarter.”
Singh added that while Max was looking at Africa as well a timeline for that launch has not been decided. “Australia and New Zealand are still some time away for us. For Hindi general entertainment and movie channels the strong markets are the Middle East, US, UK and Africa. In Asia they are Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia.”
As far as challenges involved in distributing Max abroad are concerned Singh added that the first challenge is to make sure that the channel is available across all the international territories. “That is where our focus rests at the moment. You have to meet competition in every market that you get into. That is not something, which worries us.”
Singh noted with surprise that Israel was an emerging market for Indian channels and that China and Japan were also coming up. “Maybe Indian channels in their entirety cannot go into those markets yet as 24-hour channels due to capacity constraints. However many of those broadcasters are seeking Indian product for their networks.”
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.
