#Throwback2020: New channels on the airwaves

Viewership
Dec 24, 2020 /
Shikha Singh

#Throwback2020: New channels on the airwaves

Undaunted by the pandemic, broadcasters launched several new channels this year.

Throwback2020

MUMBAI: Consumers’ viewing habits are changing, and it’s landed a clear impact on the overall broadcast sector. Despite the challenges posed by the Covid2019 pandemic and other setbacks, broadcasters are seeing virtue in launching new channels. Even during the lockdown, people turned to television to keep themselves engaged and entertained, with BARC reporting a 43 per cent increase in India's TV viewership during this period, compared to the pre-Covid2019 figures.

The rise in TV consumption signifies viewers’ appetite for content – and clearly, the time is ripe to green-flag new channels catering to different tastes and smaller sub-segments across geographies. Let’s have a look at all the new channels that arrived on the idiot box in 2020.

ZeeL

ZeeL’s first lifestyle channel Zee Zest started airing 1 October 2020. The channel presents content that is a perfect encapsulation of food, travel, lifestyle, home improvement, wellness, culture, and DIY. Zee Zest brings some original shows like 100% South Indian, India’s 50 Best Dishes, Ghar Sa Yummy – Swaad Familywala, Food Veda, and Meetha toh Banta Hai. Also in the pipeline are popular global shows making their debut in India, such as Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown Season 5, Jaime: Keep Cooking & Carry On, Far Flung with Gary Mehigan, MasterChef Australia – Season 9, MasterChef USA Junior Season 5, and more programmes across various genres.

 

 

The broadcaster forayed into the regional music space with the launch of its Marathi music channel – Zee Vajwa. It will offer 3,000+ playlists, and also have a non-fiction show in the comedy genre, a category first. The network has already captured 57 per cent viewership share in Maharashtra with Zee Marathi, Zee Yuva and Zee Talkies.

ZeeL chief consumer officer Prathyusha Agarwal said, “With Zee Vajwa, we identified a need gap in the lifestyle genre to serve a holistic entertainment experience to the focused Sec A target audience. These viewers seek experiences from around the world but from the comfort of their own homes. That’s where Zee Zest seamlessly comes in, with diverse lifestyle content themes such as wellness, travel, lifestyle, food, home improvement, and culture.”

Another offering, Zee Thirai was launched on 19 January 2020. The channel offers the latest blockbuster Kollywood movies and premieres.

Agarwal stated that all of Zeel’s new launches not only established themselves strongly in their respective markets but also aided market growth. Zee Punjabi captured a third of the viewership pie in the first four weeks of its debut, and consumption of Punjabi language content grew by 23 per cent compared to the one per cent growth in total TV viewership in Punjab/Chandigarh. Even during the lockdown, Zee Punjabi capitalised on the surge in demand for content as viewership grew by nearly 60 per cent (BARC data: weeks 12-15). The network’s new movie channels – Zee Biskope, Zee Picchar and Zee Thirai – captured a significant share in the movie genre, which rose by 28-29 per cent in a growing TV pie. (BARC data: weeks 12-15).

Enterr10 Television Network

The network expanded its footprint in south India with Dangal Kannada, close on the heels of its Bhojpuri offering, Enterr10 Rangeela.

Dangal Kannada underlines the network’s aggressive expansion into the growing regional broadcast entertainment space. Armed with dubbed versions of shows such as Ramayan, Mere Sai, Phir Laut Aayi Naagin, Tenali Rama, etc, the channel started airing from 30 September. Kannada film and TV actress Hariprriya is the brand ambassador for the channel and plays an integral part in its marketing campaigns.

After Bhojpuri Cinema, Enterr10 Rangeela is the network’s second offering for Bhojpuri audiences. The channel has launched a strong mix of fiction and non-fiction content ranging across series and reality shows, awards, and blockbuster films and world television premieres. Ramayan (Bhojpuri) is the channel’s launch pad serial.

 

 

Star India

Star Vijay, owned by Disney-Star, came out with Tamil music channel Vijay Music. Priced at Re 1 per month, Vijay Music hopes to compete with other channels in the segment such as Raj Television Network’s Raj Musix, Sun Network’s Sun Music, Jaya TV Network’s Jaya MAX.

 

 

Star India has also postponed the launch of three new channels, Star Movies Select, Star Sports 3 HD, and Disney Channel HD. It is also rebranding Movies OK as Star Gold 2. It has not provided a new date of release.  

The broadcaster has decided to add Star Movies Select to cater the audiences in standard definition (SD) category as a premiere movies channel, in addition to Star Movies Select HD (high definition).

To give larger-than-life experience to customers, the broadcaster will offer Star Sports 3 HD at a price of Rs 5 per month, in addition to existing Star Sports 3 in the SD category. Meanwhile, it plans to launch a second HD kids’ channel, Disney Channel HD, that will cost around Rs 10 per month.

With the revamping of Movies OK to Star Gold 2, the broadcaster will end the ‘OK’ branding. Previously, it had renamed the Life OK channel to Star Bharat. Star Gold 2’s SD version will cost Rs 2 per month, while for its HD variant customers will need to shell out Rs 5 per month.

DD Free Dish 

The state broadcaster run free-to-air DTH platform DD Free Dish added three new channels – ANB News, Aryan TV National, and News India 24×7 hese channels won the bid during the forty seventh e-auctions held on 26 August. They are allotted slots for the period between 1 September 2020 to 31 March 2021.

All three channels have a presence on other DTH platforms and fall under the news category – ANB News is a Punjab-based Hindi news channel, Aryan TV National caters primarily to Bihar, and News India 24×7 is a Hindi news channel focused on Rajasthan.

Tata Sky

In a move to further strengthen its regional slate, the DTH operator launched Tata Sky Malayalam Cinema, for which it joined forces with leading Malayali GEC Asianet.

Tata Sky Malayalam Cinema offers an uninterrupted movie-viewing experience to film enthusiasts, across the content spectrum – action, romance, drama, and comedy on television. The service will showcase the biggest blockbusters of Mollywood with exclusive movie premieres before television. The channel is now available to all subscribers on #1805 (SD) at a minimal cost of Rs 1.5 per day. With this, Tata Sky has regional cinema offerings in all four major south Indian languages – Tata Sky Telugu Cinema, Tata Sky Tamil Cinema, Tata Sky Kannada Cinema, and now Tata Sky Malayalam Cinema.

In10 Media Network

The network recently ventured into the kids’ entertainment space on Children’s Day with a new premium Hindi channel, Gubbare — Masti Ke Phuwarre. The current programming includes a mix of Indian animation such as Appu – The Yogic Elephant, Love U Ganesha, Chhota Hatim and Seven Monsters, and has introduced Billa Jasoos, Marcus Khiladi, My Bhoot Friends, Leo and Tig, The Dabangg Girls, Atchoo to Indian audiences on the channel. Apart from cartoon shows, animated movies are telecast on weekends. Gubbare, a pay channel, is available on all major DTH and cable operators across India.

In10 Media Network MD Aditya Pittie shared that the network is focused on building scalable businesses and strategically expanding its footprint in the industry. He added, “In our country, television continues to be a primary viewing platform for kids’ entertainment among most households.”

Prior to this, the IN10 Media Network launched its first regional movie channel – Filamchi – Filman Ka Laalchi, a 24x7 linear broadcast channel for Bhojpuri cinema fans across the country. With an extensive collection of over 250 Bhojpuri blockbusters, the channel is available on DD FreeDish and will soon be accessible across all major cable operators and platforms.

Shemaroo Entertainment Media Network

On 1 May 2020, Shemaroo Entertainment Media Network launched Hindi GEC Shemaroo TV. CEO Hiren Gada mentioned that the network is always keen to experiment and set milestones in the media and entertainment space. With this industry-first initiative allowing viewers to tune into Shemaroo TV live on Facebook, Gada hopes to reach out to a new and wider set of audience and offer content that they would like to watch and enjoy in their free time.

 

 

Other channels that debuted in 2020 include Fun TV, Blue (Naaptol), Satya Movies, Surya Cinema, BDM Bhojpuri, Surya Bhojpuri, 9X Jalwa, Maha Punjabi, C7 and Lord Budhha TV.

Television
New Channels
Zeel
Viacom18
Star India
Tata Sky
Enterr10
IN10
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