Movie Channels
Max hunts for film buffs in media agencies
MUMBAI: Media agencies are busy scratching their heads as they prepare themselves for not some planning for a client, but to take up the challenge thrown by Sony Max’s ‘No Talkies.’
This ‘Guess the Movie’ challenge will see media agencies, buyers and planners competing, while also showcasing their acting prowess.
The event which will culminate in Mumbai on 19 September, seeks to find the filmy deewanas across three big markets – Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.
Speaking about the differentiator this year, Sony Max VP marketing Vaishali Sharma says that the channel has stepped up the challenges and has made the competition more competitive. With the intention of creating a buzz for inviting registrations, the channel had pulled out all stops to amplify noise around the event.
Online registrations for the event took place on its microsite notalkies.sonymax.tv, on 19 August with total of three deewanas forming one team. Registrations were open for 10 days with more than 150 teams registering this year.
“We received an overwhelming response for our initiative last year and believe in going above and beyond movies to captivate our audiences,” opines Sharma.
It received entries from media agencies such as Maxus, MEC, Mindshare, Motivator, Madison, Zenith Optimedia, OMD amongst others participating.
This edition, all the participating teams will be slotted into different groups and they will have to compete against each other over a few exciting rounds of the games. The city round of the activity has already taken place in Bengaluru on 3 September followed by Delhi on 5 September. It will take place in Mumbai on 12 September. The finale will be based on the theme Bollywood.
Maxux, Mumbai general manager Mangesh Korgaonkar believes that the initiative is in sync with the channel’s positioning. “It is great to see the channel bring back the competition as we thoroughly enjoyed the last season and are looking forward to our participation this year.”
Agreeing with Kargaonkar, Mindshare principle partner Jignesh Ghelani says, “It is a kind initiative by Max as it is specially crafted for engaging with media agencies. It is a lot of fun as it provides us with an opportunity to let our hair down and celebrate our love for Bollywood.”
In order to boost the agencies response for participation, the channel undertook a range of prebuzz promotions. These were: setting up popcorn stalls in media agencies and also distributing banarasi paans to generate sufficient buzz around its B2B marketing initiative.
Last year the finale was hosted by the witty and charismatic VJ, actor and presenter Gaurav Kapoor. This year, the channel is yet to finalise the host for the event.
Although Sharma refused to divulge any details on the prize money, last year it had honoured with Rs 25,000 cash voucher. “All I can say is that it is a generous voucher which will enable the winning team to make good purchases at an electronic store,” laughs Sharma.
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.
