GECs
Zee Music rocks Mumbai with Sound of India
MUMBAI: “If music be the food of love, play on; give me excess of it….” These lines from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night fit to a T the revamped Zee Music and its new VJs.
Zee has pumped in yet another dose of vitamins in its thus far sickly baby Zee Music. Though a repeat performance of the Delhi party; the energy with which the launch was announced had to be seen to be believed.
“In this youth driven music channel market, we have realized the definitive need for a pure music channel and there Zee Music comes in with a format of playing full songs and less bakbak, (chatter), ” said Zee Music business head Yogesh Radhakrishnan at the launch.
Although Zee Music’s revamped version would be fighting for the same pie as Channel [V] and MTV, the real mêlée seems to be with MTV alone. “We are launching Sound of India and rest assured you will get quality music on our channel. We have rights to 70 per cent music in India. All the other music channels (read MTV) buy it from us. So we obviously have an upper hand. We have real young VJs, unlike the rest who just claim to be young,” said Zee sales head Bharat Ranga.
The programming has been revamped and eight new shows have been planned with a deliberate focus on Bollywood numbers. Also a bevy of six new VJs have been added to the Zee Music team. “Our mission is to be the brand ambassador of Indian Music to the world by leveraging Zee Music as The Sound of India,” said Radhakrishnan. All six VJ’s New Delhiites Roob, Parimal, and Manish and Mumbaiites Vishal, Karan and Adita, were introduced to the press and the invitees by Zee Music programming and brand head Niyati Shah. Though a giggly lot, some did have sparks of talent.
The eight new shows that will set the ball rolling at Zee Music are: a live show Please toh Play, Signs, Suniyore, Imported, www.bakbak.com, Global Gavaiya, Pehla Pyar and Item Bomb. Besides intriguing names, Please toh Play is touted as the first ever live show on a music channel. According to Radhakrishnan, “It will be just like radio. In fact we are planning to make our channel as live and as interactive as possible.”
With close to Rs 10.5 million that was planned on being spent on the media blitz for a month, which would cover outdoors, the electronic medium and the radio, it came as no surprise that the Mumbai launch party rocked the elite disco Velocity till the wee hours of the morning.
Among the celebrities that hopped by were Shaadi Ka Ladoo reel pair Mandira Bedi and Sanjay Suri. Also seen were Mandira’s husband Raj Kaushal and singer Raageshwari Sachdev.
And the music starts today….
GECs
Samsung TV Plus launches Kings of Comedy channel
New free FAST channel brings iconic Hindi comedy shows to millions of Samsung Smart TV owners.
MUMBAI: Samsung TV Plus has just turned up the laughter volume and it’s completely free. The leading free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service in India has launched Kings of Comedy, a premium comedy channel featuring some of the country’s most beloved primetime shows. Available exclusively on Samsung TV Plus, the channel delivers back-to-back hits including Comedy Nights with Kapil, Khatra Khatra Khatra, and Comedy Nights Bachao, with no login or subscription required.
The launch marks a milestone for free streaming in India, offering audiences a dedicated comedy destination directly from their Samsung TV home screen. It arrives as Samsung TV Plus India celebrates its 5th anniversary, during which the service has grown its monthly active users by 42 per cent and more than doubled its total viewing hours. The platform now offers over 180 free channels across 14 languages.
Samsung TV Plus India general manager and head of business development Kunal Mehta said, “Comedy is the heartbeat of Hindi entertainment, and Kings of Comedy brings together the shows Indians already love, completely free on their Samsung TV. Our focus remains the same take the content people know and make it effortless to access.”
Globally, Samsung TV Plus has surpassed 100 million monthly active users across more than 4,500 channels, solidifying its position as one of the world’s leading free streaming services.
Kings of Comedy is now available on all compatible Samsung Smart TVs. For viewers seeking non-stop laughter without any cost, this new channel delivers a royal treat proving that sometimes the best entertainment really does come with no strings (or subscriptions) attached.
