It was indeed surreal. A platform that had glitz meeting glamour and the result? Sheer magic! ZEE5 Global, the world’s largest streaming service for South Asian content, today announced a strategic move to aggregate multiple South Asian streaming platforms within the ZEE5 Global platform with the launch of Add-ons in the US. ZEE5 Global Add-ons will offer subscribers in the US a single window to access their favorite South Asian entertainment platforms on the ZEE5 Global platform itself, with Add-ons pricing starting from just $1.49.

Sumita Chakraborty, Editor-in-chief & Rajeev Mokashi, Chief Strategy Officer, TheGlitz, attended the event and gave a first-hand impression about this brilliant strategic alliance held at Taj Lands End, Mumbai. Indeed, TheGlitz was witness to this grand unveiling attended by top directors and stars from Vishal Bhardwaj, Guneet Monga, Manoj Bajpayee, Prateek Gandhi, Dheeraj Dhoopar, Sharad Kelkar, Ameesha Patel, Karan Wahi and so many others. It was an event that promised many grand business prospects globally for Zee5 Global. Undoubtedly, a wonderful endeavour.

Grand Unveiling

ZEE5 Global Add-ons were unveiled by Mr. Amit Goenka, President, Digital Businesses and Platforms and Ms. Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global at a mega event in Mumbai, India attended by Bollywood & Regional celebrities, industry stalwarts and others.

“The launch of Add-ons on ZEE5 Global is a significant milestone, further cementing our leadership position as the No.1 South Asian streaming platform in the US market,” said Ms. Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global, “Add-ons will bring the best of South Asian content from multiple streaming platforms within ZEE5 Global for the diaspora in the US and soon globally, and at the best possible value.”

ZEE5 Global Add-ons

ZEE5 Global Add-ons currently offer content across languages from streaming platforms like Simply South (all South Indian languages), Oho Gujarati (Gujarati), Chaupal (Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Haryanvi), NammaFlix (Kannada), EPIC ON (Hindi) and iStream (Malayalam) with at least six more being onboarded. As a first for ZEE5 Global, Gujarati content will be available on the platform to delight the huge Gujarati-speaking diaspora in the US. ZEE5 Global Add-ons partner titles will further add to the platform’s huge catalogue of over 250,000 hours of movies, TV shows, and originals across languages.

Seamless & Personalised

Mr. Amit Goenka, President – Digital Businesses & Platforms, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. said, “As digital entertainment consumption and delivery models evolve in the global landscape, addressing the growing consumer demand for engaging content and a seamless, personalized experience that combines accessibility and affordability is the need of the hour.

With the launch of our aggregator platform ZEE5 Add-ons, we aim to unite the entertainment ecosystem for the discerning viewer to build a robust monetization opportunity for multiple players in the global markets. We are pleased to have on board some of the most renowned names offering South Asian content to the diaspora audience, and we look forward to building a healthy partnership by enhancing capabilities in the realm of content creation and distribution by establishing ZEE5 Global Add-ons as the single destination for all South Asian content.”

Vision & Visionary

Sharing her vision for ZEE5 Global Add-ons, Ms. Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global, added, “As the foremost South Asian streaming platform in the United States, ZEE5 Global has played a crucial role in connecting the South Asian diaspora with their cultural roots. Building on our leadership, the natural progression was to evolve into the premier aggregator for South Asian entertainment. Add-ons will help address challenges such as content and consumer fragmentation and empower subscribers to effortlessly access their preferred content at one destination. It also benefits our partners, who can bank on our extensive reach in the US and save on customer acquisition and marketing costs.”

With Add-ons, users will now have just one app to download, only one login and a single password to remember. Billing and payment are also simplified through a single platform for all streaming subscriptions. Personalized recommendations across languages, unified user interface and search across platforms, and an ad-free viewing experience are just some of the other key benefits for consumers in the US.

The Great ZEE5 GiveAway

In addition to Add-ons, ZEE5 Global is set to launch the largest consumer giveback program, the Great ZEE5 GiveAway, for its US consumers over the next few weeks in association with multiple partners like Quicklly, the leading online South Asian marketplace in the US, wherein with every purchase of ZEE5 or any Add-On pack, all new or existing subscribers will stand to win guaranteed gifts and sweepstakes ranging from gift cards to all-expenses-paid trips to destinations like Hawaii, Las Vegas, and more.

Referral Program

A unique India to US Referral Program will also be rolled out shortly. Subscribers in India will be able to share their unique referral link with friends or family in the US and earn Rs.500 for each successful referral. The best part: no capping on the number of referrals, so there is no upper limit to how much one can get.

Speaking at the event, Archana Anand also announced a massive campaign against global piracy to be launched soon with ZEE5 Global offering a logical and legitimate option for consumers tempted by the content variety and low costs offered by pirate platforms.

Panel Discussion By Stalwarts

Tied in with her aspiration around ZEE5 Global being at the forefront of taking South Asian entertainment larger on the global stage, the launch event also featured a panel discussion titled the Coming of Age of South Asian Entertainment: The Time is Now. The panel discussion, moderated by Anupama Chopra, featured actor Manoj Bajpayee, Guneet Monga, Vishal Bhardwaj, Pratik Gandhi, and Archana Anand from ZEE5 Global. The panellists discussed a range of topics around the subject covering how South Asian content is finally taking centre stage, their own perspectives about the South Asian diaspora audience, how storytelling has evolved and whether crossing over was a personal aspiration for them.

ZEE5 Global Add-ons are available across platforms like Android, iOS, www.zee5.com, Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, and Samsung TVs.

About ZEE5 Global

ZEE5 Global is the digital entertainment destination launched by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), a global Media and Entertainment powerhouse. The platform launched across 190+ countries in October 2018 and has content across 18 languages: Hindi, English, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Punjabi, including six international languages Malay, Thai, Bahasa, Urdu, Bangla and Arabic. ZEE5 Global is home to 200,000+ hours of on-demand content. The platform brings together the best of Originals, Movies and TV Shows, Music, Health and Lifestyle content in one destination. In addition, ZEE5 Global offers features like 15 navigational languages, content download options, seamless video playback and Voice Search.