Movie Channels
Mummy helps HBO climb into the top 100
MUMBAI: An HBO movie made it to the top 100 programmes in the week ended 13 January 2002, setting a record of sorts for the channel.
Mummy, the Hollywood blockbuster of 2000, entered both ORG Marg’s Intam list and AC Nielsen’s TAM data with Intam ranking it 28th with a TVR of 2.6. TAM on the other hand, gave it a higher rating of 2.88 but placed it at number 62 on its chart. The reason for the difference is that TAM data records a show’s TVRs according to the number of times it is on air during the week, while Intam registers one show on any given time slot only once, however many times it may appear. The data collected was for all C&S homes in all 24 panels.
Mummy, aired on 12 January, was touted as the channel’s first big movie of the year and was surrounded by a lot of on and off air promotional activity. The ratings by themselves are impressive. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that premiered on AXN in December 2001 earned a rating of 1.2 among Indian cable AB viewers in the top five metros, making it the top programme on international channels between 1 and 29 December, according to AXN Asia MD Todd Miller. Mummy thus stands head and shoulders above the other English channels.
Nevertheless, Mummy was not able to break Titanic’s record score of 8.2 (TAM data for nine main cities 4+) when the movie premiered on Star Movies on 31 December 1999.
The Mummy seems to have succeeded where the Band of Brothers failed, for HBO. The 10 part miniseries BoB was pushed aggressively across media but failed to strike a chord with viewers, and rise on the ratings scale. Mummy has turned out a much sounder investment for the channel.
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.
