ZEE5 bets big on family and regional content to carve niche in crowded OTT space

New Delhi: ZEE5, on the shoulders of ZEE’s regional content pool, is aiming to become a hub for family-centric and regional content. While every OTT platform offers a unique content slate to the viewers—Netflix with its global content, Amazon with its e-commerce plus entertainment, JioStar with sports—ZEE5, in the OTT space, is betting heavily on family and regional content.

In a conversation with BestMediaInfo.com, Shresth Gupta, Vice President, Marketing (SVOD), India and Global, ZEE5, shared the learnings and course corrections that led to ZEE5 becoming hawk-eyed around regional and family-centric content. 

Growing cohorts for family content

Gupta highlighted the evolving OTT space where the screens are getting consolidated with time. From being a medium of personal consumption, OTT is shifting towards the big screen, especially with the rise of connected TV (CTV). According to Gupta, this is also increasing the demands for family-oriented content. 

“A key learning for us was the discovery of a significant viewership base for family-oriented content. While individual consumption remains a large segment, there's a growing cohort of consumers seeking content they can enjoy together as a family on OTT platforms. This indicates a definite need to cater to this specific audience segment,” Gupta said. 

Mirroring its parent organisation, ZEE5 has shifted to top gears to move towards content that resonates with the entire family rather than an individual. 

Fighting against consolidation

With consolidations and mergers becoming the new norm, ZEE5 aims to be an independent entity. Riding on the consumer-centric ideology, ZEE5 is correcting course based on “what the consumer wants rather than what the competition is doing.” 

“India is a diverse country with multiple consumer cohorts and preferences. We believe the most effective approach for any brand is to prioritise and address the requirements and demands of the consumers they serve,” Gupta said.

In addition, Gupta is putting his cards on the large consumer base that has varied requirements. With this, according to Gupta, there is enough for everyone. Hence, a diverse audience having diverse needs requires an approach that involves prioritising specific demands rather than catering to everyone at the same time. 

Chucking the classic ‘jack of all trades’ psyche, ZEE5 is shifting its focus towards becoming the master of family-centric and regional content, mitigating the need to consolidate.

Connected to TV

A primary wagon that ZEE5 will be using to carry their agendas forward is CTV. Gupta expressed that CTV is a “big focus area” for ZEE5. The OTT platform is not only working to align the content pool but also the overall engagement a user has with ZEE5 on CTV. 

Driving this discussion, Gupta said, “We are constantly evaluating how to enhance that experience. This includes optimising platform visibility, refining our UI/UX for maximum consumer engagement, and improving content discoverability within the CTV environment.”

Gupta mentioned that ZEE5 is actively pursuing strategic partnerships with manufacturers such as Samsung and Xiaomi and is working to ensure that ZEE5 is natively integrated into the CTV ecosystem. Among these strategic partnerships are also the emerging operating systems and channels that are deepening CTV’s footprints in India. 

“We strive to stay ahead of the curve and maintain a substantial presence in CTV viewership for our platform,” Gupta said. 

Monetisation  

In its stock exchange filings for the third quarter of FY24, ZEE5 reported a “steady performance,” with revenues growing 8% year-on-year. To keep this steady going further, ZEE5 is holding on to a hybrid model of monetisation. 

According to Gupta, India will always be a hybrid between SVOD (Subscription-based Video on Demand) and AVOD (Advertisement-based Video on Demand). “While US and other markets are very SVOD driven, India will always be an SVOD plus AVOD market,” Gupta told BestMediaInfo.com. 

Gupta pointed out that due to the sheer size of the country’s population, India has enough audiences for both models to thrive.