After ending successfully the first half of FY21 with 43 Originals, video streaming platform ZEE5 India is now planning to launch another 35+ originals in the second half of the fiscal. The platform aims to introduce 80 originals during the ongoing financial year.
ZEE5 launched a total of 25 and 18 originals/movies in Q1 and Q2 respectively. The revenue and EBITDA loss in Q1 was Rs 94.9 crore and Rs 145 crore and In Q2, ZEE5’s revenue and EBITDA loss stood at Rs 98.9 crore and Rs 189.4 crore respectively.
Aparna Acharekar, ZEE5 India Programming Head; said the platform plans its content calendar effectively before inorder to have a robust pipeline and that ZEE5 has already strengthened up its content line-up for FY22.
She further added that as platforms grow in scale they also need to scale-up their content offerings. The need for our business is to have a long and consistent pipeline.
ZEE5 library is comprised of 500+ hours of original content.
Long weekends are one of the key periods when the platform looks to capture the audience with original and special content.
“Not only just for the months of Oct- -Dec but also the whole year, the entire calendar is pre-planned to allow viewers to relax and to take some time off to binge off. We are always looking out for those long weekends and on days where the opinions to watch content is high and when people have more time on their hands,” Acharekar explained.
ZEE5 plans to launch three big shows every month across Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. Apart from Original shows, ZEE5 is also planning to air movies after their premiere on Zee Plex.
Acharekar admitted that the pandemic had an impact on the platform’s content production. However, content production now is going well. She noted that content providers have to plan for the future.
New shows bring in newer audiences and therefore it is very important to offer different content to consolidate different audiences. “
For ZEE5, the success calculation is through the season and episode completion besides other metrics like the duration when the show was watched and the watch time. Some of the most successful shows on the platform are ‘Rangbaaz’ and ‘Abhay’ which had grabbed the attention of both male and female audiences.
