Movie Channels
Star Movies gives the country a new secret to keep!
MUMBAI: On a mysterious Friday evening of 5 August a throng of excited and eager movie fans gathered at PVR Cinema outlets in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore to witness a never before seen initiative in India – The Star Movies Secret Screening.
An exclusive invite only closed door movie screening that gives the participating ‘secret keepers’ a rare opportunity to watch some of the biggest Hollywood movies weeks before its actual international release.
Everybody loves a secret, but how many can keep one? The experience began with Star Movies and a select few of their secret keepers. After Star Movies and their secret keepers popped the question to their followers, instant curiosity picked up and secret screening became the buzz word.
The would-be secret keepers had to visit a URL and request for a secret knock code. And once they receive the code, they need to enter it on the website to generate an invite for the secret screening. The experience continued at the screening and finally Star Movies and Fox Star Studios together unveiled the mega secret – The Maze Runner – screening weeks before its worldwide release.
The impact: Star Movies’ asked its viewers if they can keep a secret, they replied with an emphatic ‘YES’ that resulted in 30 million impressions and over 5000 mentions on Twitter. No wonder then, that #StarMoviesSecretScreening trended nationally.
On the occasion, Star India English Cluster general manager Kevin Vaz said, “At Star Movies we always believe in creating experiences for our viewers through strong engagement opportunities and high impact campaigns. We are proud to present a first-of-its-kind concept in India – Star Movies Secret Screening. A private screening of some special movies held only for a select few movie enthusiasts’ weeks before its worldwide release. We are happy with the overwhelming response and as always we will continue to constantly engage our audience with such immersive experiences.”
Fox Star Studios chief marketing officer Shikha Kapur said, “The Maze Runner has been getting great reviews worldwide. When you have a strong product like this, it is important to create evangelists out of audiences and this activity was aimed at doing so. We were sure that audiences would love The Maze Runner and hence confident of screening the film 2 weeks prior to the Worldwide release. We at Fox Star Studios try and push the envelope of marketing with every film. I think we were hugely successful as it took social media by storm & are proud to have partnered with Star Movies for this initiative. Given the responses we have got from the screening, we are confident the film will be received very well in India, when it releases on 19th September.”
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.
