Movie Channels
Star World to air ‘General Hospital’ in February
MUMBAI: English general entertainment channel Star World continues with its aim to bring the best that American television has to offer. From next month it will kick off the medical soap General Hospital.
This will air Monday to Friday to 4 pm. The show has been airing in the US since 1963.
Events in this daytime drama are centred in Port Charles, a community on the coast in upper New York. The plot centres around the people who work in General Hospital, people who work in the business community (most notably for the Quartermaines’ company ELQ), and former agents of the World Security Bureau.
This will complement the soap Bold And The Beautiful which airs from Monday to Friday at 3 pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 10 am.
A new show My Wife And Kids will air every
Monday at 8 pm with repeats on Tuesdays at 10 am and on Saturdays at 1 pm. Black comedian Damon Wayans stars in this comedy about an all-but-typical, definitely dysfunctional, but still very close-knit family. Wayans is Michael Kyle, a modern-day patriach who rules his roost with a unique style and patchwork philosophy.
On the local front the chat show Rendezvous With Simi Garewal returns. This kicks off on 12 February 2006 and will air every Sunday at 8:30 pm. As in the past it will offer one to one intimate chats with celebrities and other movers and shakers. The show is also looking to have international personalities as guests. Right now Oprah Primetime airs in that slot.
The channel will also air the special Zubin Mehta In Concert. This airs on 5 February at 10 pm with a repeat on 11 February at 4 pm. Last December, symphony conductor Zubin Mehta along with the Bavarian State Orchestra performed for the first time in Chennai at the Chennai Music Academy and in New Delhi at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
The first concert of works by Verdi, Schubert and Beethoven was a memorial concert in remembrance of the Indian Ocean tsunami a year ago. While Mehta performed in Chennai for the first time he performed in Delhi after a decade. The team performed to a packed hall of select invitees. Eminent personalities turned up, including Nobel Laurete in economics Amartya Sen and the Tamil Nadu governer, Surjit Singh Barnala.
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.
