Movie Channels
Sania Mirza gets set to ‘bond’ on Sony Pix
MUMBAI: ‘The name is Bond, James Bond’ is one of Hollywood’s most iconic dialogues, and so has been the Bond franchise. Not surprisingly, it has collected $ 4.1 billion at the box office and still counting. And while the property has been showcased time and again on English movie channels, Sony Pix has taken a step ahead and roped in tennis player Sania Mirza, who launched the franchise as a trainer for the channel’s Pix School of BONDing.
Explaining the initiative to showcase the 50 year old property, Sony Pix and AXN EVP and business head Saurabh Yagnik says that in order to sustain Bond’s relevance the channel wanted to create a disruptive and differentiated viewer proposition. “While Bond is synonymous with gadgets, gizmos and girls, these three are transient and keep changing throughout the movies. But the most consistent part is the evergreen Bond attitude. We, therefore, decided to come up with a campaign that would be able to grab attention,” he adds. The campaign is primarily targeted towards the younger audiences.
The channel deliberated for three months before conceptualising the campaign and roped in Mirza for her iconic personality, her resonance with young audiences and the fact that she is a self confessed die-hard James Bond fan.
It wanted to portray Bond’s attitude and desirability through the eyes of a woman. As a trainer at the Pix School, Mirza will be seen giving tips on how men should woo their way to a woman’s heart. Starting on 22 November, the 23 Bond titles will be shown for the next 12 weeks (three months) every Saturday at 7 pm and 9 pm. The tennis ace will be providing nine to 12 lessons, each of one to two minute duration. These capsules will be showcased during the telecast of the movies.
To promote the campaign, three TV promos have been shot at the Filmistan Studio by an in-house team. These are being promoted on all channels of the MSM network. Short snippets like The 23 Bond Villains of All Time and 23 Best Bond Cars of all Time have also been created. Bond memes are being circulated on WhatsApp. A six-city print campaign has been launched where publications are running contests wherein winners will be able to meet Mirza in person.
Pix marketing vice president Neville Bastawalla talking about the marketing campaign says, “This is the biggest ever campaign done in the English category. We currently have a 12 per cent engagement rate on social media versus our nearest rival which has a five per cent engagement rate. We, therefore, through digital contests and the live chats wanted to leverage our fans with that of Mirza’s.”
Pix has 47.9k followers on Twitter while Mirza has 2.13 million. On Facebook Mirza’s official page currently has 7,698,051 likes while Pix has 2,155,451.
Micromax has come on board as the presenting sponsor. Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 is the powered by sponsor while the associate sponsors are Quikr, Titan Skinn, 99acres.com, Nutrilite by Amway and Crizal by Essilor.
Yagnik says that with the campaign he expects a jump of 20 to 30 per cent in viewership for the channel, which has seen a growth of 25 per cent in the category for this year, so far.
The 23 Bond films that will be showcased are Dr No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun,The Spy who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, AView To A Kill, The Living Daylights, License to Kill, Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall.
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.
