Zee strengthens its regional foothold with Zee Vajwa

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) has announced its entry into the regional music space with the launch of its Marathi music channel Zee Vajwa. The channel will have a programming line-up that will include 3000+ music playlists. It will boast of the best library in the category in partnership with Zee Music and Zee Studios.

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Pankaj Balhara

Apart from music, the channel will have short-form content to engage consumers, along with long-format scripted shows, said Pankaj Balhara, Dy. Business Head, Music Cluster, Zeel. One of the key differentiators would be experiential music slots with several other category firsts, such as a comedy show.

Prathyusha Agarwal

Speaking at the launch, Prathyusha Agarwal, Chief Consumer Officer, Zeel, said, “We win hearts across many Bharats by creating content brands that are deeply rooted in culture. All four regional channels that we launched last year broke into the top 3 in their respective categories within their launch month, with Zee Biskope rising to no. 1, and Zee Picchar and Zee Punjabi in the top 2,” she said.

“We are the undisputed leader in Maharashtra with our GEC and movie channels and the launch of Zee Vajwa will be a celebration of our intrinsic bond with every Maharashtrian family, through music. Music on TV is perceived to play a passive background role in the consumer’s life. But in a country like India, a song becomes a chartbuster when it becomes an integral part of celebrations such as Ganpati Visarjan, sangeet ceremony, etc. Music becomes an active way to enjoy, express and celebrate, creating an amplified mahaul (ambience). This externalised and shared culture of music is at the core of Zee’s music channel positioning. With Zee Vajva, we promise to dial up every moment for our viewers with a music++ experience so that they live life to the fullest,” she added.

She said music is strongly embedded in our culture and during the festive period, the culture around music gains importance. “We are looking at that as a launch platform and hence a lot of consumption is happening around the festive period.”

Agarwal said there are few Marathi music channels and as the number increases, the category will also grow.

Speaking about the advertiser’s sentiments, she said the Marathi category has always had a huge demand. For the festive season, the demand has returned and brands that held back from advertising during Q1 will be eager to reach out during Q3. “There has been a return of advertising demands on channels and we see this as an opportunity for them to communicate with the Maharashtrian audience,” she added.

Ashish Sehgal

Ashish Sehgal, Chief Growth Officer, Zeel, said, “As an organisation, we have gained in both viewership and revenue due to our diverse portfolio across markets and believe in constantly strengthening our product portfolio, keeping the customer at the centre, adding value to all our stakeholders. Our dominant position across markets echoes our customer-centricity. Our growing viewership and revenue share in Maharashtra is a reflection of our successful journey so far. Our objective has always been to provide a holistic surround to our consumer/customer and in Maharashtra, with Zee Vajwa, we see an opportunity for us to not only strengthen our music cluster but further gain viewership/revenue share as well. We are excited to dial up the impact for advertisers this festive period.”

Speaking about marketing of the channel, she said they will use TV extensively as it is the largest medium. They will carry out a high-pitch marketing campaign across TV, digital and other mediums in the coming weeks.

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