Zee doubles down on Pay TV; launches two new channels amid industry decline

New Delhi: Pay TV homes in India fell by 40 million in the last six years. The platform that used to enjoy 151 million viewers in 2018 came down to 111 million in 2024. These numbers highlight a glaring issue of alienation that is eating up pay TV from the inside.

In such a climate, Zee Entertainment Enterprises is refusing to let linear television die. Instead, the network has decided to double down on the good old medium.

Zee, on Friday, launched not one but two new pay TV channels – Zee Power and Zee Bangla Sonar – in a calculated bid to prove that pay TV can still survive, or cannot die, at least not on their watch.

“Pay TV does seem to be on the decline, and that's exactly why I felt this was the right time, perhaps even the last apt moment, to act. We may have missed the bus had we waited any longer, though in hindsight, we could have done this earlier too. But as they say, better late than never,” said Ashish Sehgal, Chief Growth Officer – Advertisement Revenue.

Survival of the latest

In Sehgal’s view, Zee’s new offerings are less about nostalgia and more about survival of the pay TV ecosystem. As OTT makes inroads into every screen, the intention behind these launches is to create sticky, mass-market content that prevents TV from becoming obsolete.

Offering a zoomed-in perspective on the thought behind launching the two regional channels, Sehgal explained, “The shared thought process behind launching these two channels in the pay TV space was to cater to the existing viewer base and ensure they don’t feel alienated. We wanted to offer content that evolves with their needs, on a platform that continues to deliver unparalleled reach,” Sehgal told BestMediaInfo.com.

Sehgal elaborated that the idea was to match the OTT experience but on a TV platform. “This move is not just about innovation but also about safeguarding the pay TV ecosystem and growing viewership in television,” said Sehgal.

Hybrid DNA

Both channels sport what Sehgal called a “hybrid” content strategy, according to which the channels will foster a calculated blend of fiction, non-fiction, and movies. The idea is to “bring more consumers onto the pay TV ecosystem and especially into Zee’s ecosystem.”

Sehgal admitted that initially, there may be some cannibalisation from the already established channels, but “it will get fixed over time.”

“We’ve taken clear steps to avoid cannibalising our leadership channels. The kind of content we’re creating with the new launches is designed to bring in more viewers, not eat into our existing ones. Yes, there might be some initial cannibalisation, but that typically gets fixed over time,” ZEEL’s CGO said.

Sehgal shared that the business sense in these launches is quite clear. Zee is banking on increasing their viewership, which will help it make a stronger pitch to advertisers and a better share of their marketing budget.

While Sehgal holds the macro vision, the real execution lies within the cluster heads. While Samrat Ghosh, Chief Cluster Officer – East, North & Premium Cluster, and Jalaluddin Mondal, Chief Channel Officer – Zee Bangla Sonar and Zee Biskope, are spearheading the Bengali channel, Siju Prabhakaran, Chief Cluster Officer – South & West, is helming Zee Power in the south.

Both channels are a resurrection story of sorts. One is being developed as a male-dominated counterpart of an already established channel (Zee Bangla), the other is being reborn from Zee Picchar to Zee Power.

The Bengal chapter

Zee Bangla has been a trusted storyteller in the eyes of the female urban skew. Zee Bangla Sonar will tap into the huge male audience base and provide them with relatable content, especially focusing on small towns.

The rationale is more strategic than sentimental. Despite being home to two flagship channels, Bengal remains an under-indexed TV market. “The penetration is 66%, which is below the national average of 71%. That’s a growth opportunity. That growth will come from smaller towns where stories are yet to be told, and audiences are still waiting to see themselves represented on screen,” said Ghosh.

The programming philosophy, therefore, hinges on relatability without redundancy. “We are very cautious about creating relevance, relatability, and aspiration through our content offering. We believe that once we do that, viewers who’ve moved to OTT or become irregular will come back to the GEC space,” he added.

On the format front, the channel is ready to step outside the usual boxes. There will be prank shows, spooky formats, spooks, travelogues, investigative dramas, and the “stories of the great Indian middle class.”

Mondal, the chief channel officer, shared that these formats are not just built for prime time. Rather, they are platform-agnostic.

“We are no longer just a content company. We are a content-plus-tech-enabled company. Whatever we make, it must be able to travel across platforms, including OTT, CTV, and Social Media,” he said.

That means even a spoof show or a detective thriller, built for Bengali sensibilities, is designed to resonate on Zee5 or even YouTube. “We’re creating an omnichannel strategy where content doesn’t get restricted by the platform. Let the audience discover it wherever they are,” Mondal told BestMediaInfo.com.

The Karnataka chapter

Prabhakaran was quick to point out that Zee Kannada has a 44% market share in Karnataka. However, the channel noticed a restless viewer segment. That viewer? Often young. Often male. Often missing in the existing programming grid.

This new consumer insight formed the kernel of Zee’s decision to launch Zee Power, a channel that boldly targets what Prabhakaran calls a “mass niche.” “It’s not a niche in the traditional sense. It’s a segment with sizable volume; semi-urban Kannada-speaking audiences who feel underrepresented and underserved,” Prabhakaran said.

At a glance, it may seem unnecessary for a dominant player to fragment its own turf. But Prabhakaran is quick to counter that notion. “Zee Kannada is like a big banyan tree. It tells stories for kids, grandparents, and the whole family. But it couldn’t be everything to everyone. We saw a large segment that wasn’t watching Zee Kannada at all,” he noted.

And hence, to complement, and not replace Zee Kannada, Zee Power was launched for the Kannada-speaking diaspora.

Prabhakaran envisions Zee Power becoming a platform that reflects the layered social fabric of Karnataka. “This isn’t a homogeneous state. There’s North Karnataka, which is still underrepresented, and then there’s Mysuru, Mangaluru, Bengaluru, each with their own cultural POVs,” he said.

For all its youth-skewed aspirations, Zee Power is still rooted in what Zee believes television does best, and that is, reflecting collective culture, but doing so with a modern lens. “TV consumption is still steady. It’s not at an all-time high, but it's very healthy. As a strong leader brand in southern markets, it's incumbent upon us to grow the category, not just the brand,” Prabhakaran stated.

Ad-justing the narrative

With both channels launching during the onset of the festive ad cycles, Zee is understandably bullish. Sehgal shared that they will be selling 30-40% of the ad inventory during the very initial phases of the channels.

“We will first showcase the strength of the channels first. Pitching the advertisers will happen eventually,” Sehgal said.

In Karnataka, Zee Power is eyeing advertisers who may not have been traditional TV clients. “There’s a segment of premium advertisers, some of them VC-funded, who’ve been playing in social and Instagram spaces. They want the scale of TV, but not necessarily long-form storytelling,” said Prabhakaran.

He also highlighted that Zee Power could tap into existing advertiser portfolios in new ways. “While the advertiser might be the same, the brands they advertise on Power might be different from those they run on Zee Kannada. Some might be more premium in positioning, or aimed at male youth,” Prabhakaran said.

Similarly, in Bengal, the channel’s content mix is already engineered with brand conversations in mind. From prank shows and spoof formats to local travelogues and youth-skewed thrillers, Zee Bangla Sonar aims to reach audiences currently hanging out on social feeds and streaming apps.

“Once I’ve created relevance and relatability through my content, I’m confident advertisers will follow the viewer,” Ghosh said.

Is there a contradiction in pushing new pay TV channels while also designing them to travel seamlessly across digital mediums? Sehgal doesn’t think so.

“It’s not contradictory. It’s complimentary. First, I retain or attract the consumer on TV. Then I ensure that content travels,” he said.

And if India’s cross-screen measurement ever catches up? All the better. “Then I’ll be able to prove the entire consumer journey, from TV to OTT to FAST. It will validate our approach,” Sehgal said.

In short, Zee is putting its money and content where its viewers are. Whether on a flat-screen in a drawing room or a phone in a college hostel, Zee’s channels are ready to chase eyeballs, not just ratings.