Movie Channels
Shemaroo Entertainment appoints Saurabh Srivastava as chief operating officer – digital business
Mumbai: Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd., one of the leading players in the Indian media and entertainment industry, has announced the appointment of Saurabh Srivastava as the Chief Operating Officer – Digital Business. This strategic move underscores the company’s commitment to maintaining a competitive edge in the dynamic digital landscape. Srivastava will be responsible for driving digital growth, revenue strategy, and operational excellence, ensuring continued success in the evolving digital ecosystem.
With a distinguished career spanning 17+ years across diverse industries, Saurabh has held key positions at Disney Star India, Marico and Coca Cola India, and was also the co-founder of Studio Samsara. In his previous role at Disney Star India, he demonstrated exceptional leadership as the Head of Product & Revenue Strategy for the Hindi Entertainment Network, driving ad-sales revenue on linear successfully. At Marico, Srivastava demonstrated his strategic acumen by spearheading the complete P&L responsibility of the South East Asia business and effectively establishing operations in the region. He had co-founded Studio Samsara in Malaysia, where he established an omnichannel model and developed a robust digital marketing strategy, exemplifying his expertise beyond his corporate roles.
Shemaroo CEO Hiren Gada commented, “We are delighted to welcome Saurabh Srivastava as our Chief Operating Officer – Digital Business. Saurabh’s extensive and highly successful stints across multiple business functions and geographies at global organisations like Disney, Marico and Coca Cola will play a pivotal role in accelerating our digital expansion. This appointment reinforces our commitment to strengthen the leadership at Shemaroo as we continue on the path of disruptive growth in the rapidly evolving world of media and entertainment.”
Shemaroo COO Arghya Chakravarty added, “Saurabh’s extensive leadership and proven track record in driving monetisation across platforms basis not just vanilla pricing growth but also multiple industry first innovations on linear as well as digital, make him an invaluable addition to our digital transformation journey. His experience at Disney Star and Marico will be instrumental in driving growth across our digital video, music and OTT businesses in the fast-evolving digital landscape. His strategic leadership and expertise will enable us to take the next leap towards our B2C agenda at Shemaroo.”
In this role, Srivastava will report to Chakravarty and will be a part of the Shemaroo Executive Committee.
Srivastava is an MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur and holds a Chemical engineering degree from IIT Delhi. His appointment highlights Shemaroo’s commitment to embracing industry changes and seizing new opportunities in the digital realm.
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.
