ZEE5 makes a fewer originals now as we have figured out the quantum we really need: Punit Misra

ZEE5 has halved its original series count from 70-80 five years ago to 30-40 across Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali over the two past years as the broadcaster-backed OTT says it has understood the quantum of content the platform needs based on how much its consumers discover and watch. 

“Five years ago, we were making a lot of content. We were making 70-80 original pieces of content. Over the past two years, we have actually come down to a lower number on original series. That’s not because we are investing less. It’s because we understand the quantum we really need,” Punit Misra, President – Content & International Markets, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises, told Business Today on the sidelines of ZEE5’s content slate announcement for the rest of 2023 on Friday in Mumbai. 

On its fifth anniversary on Friday, ZEE5 unveiled a content slate with a line-up 111+ titles across Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Punjabi and Marathi for 2023. It includes sequels of series, direct-to-digital releases, post-theatrical launches and docu-series.  

Misra said the slate includes 70% licensed movies and 30% original content. That works out to 30-40 original series in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali. Launching new content, including originals and acquired films, once in 2 weeks for a 52-week subscription is a good number, he said, pointing out that the earlier level of intensity is not required because people will not discover that much content.  

“That said, we make 5-6 times more content in the non-Hindi language markets than the top 5-6 national competitors. Including Hindi, we would be making 40% more content than them,” Misra said. He added that the amount invested remains the same, and the split between Hindi and regional language is 50-50 in terms of both investments and content consumption by consumers. 

The ZEE5 line-up features sequels of prominent original series like Sunflower S2, Taj: Reign of Revenge, TVF’s Humorously Yours S3 and Aam Aadmi Family S4, The Kashmir Files Unreported, Duranga S2, Mithya S2, The Broken News S2, Guneet Monga’s Gyarah Gyarah (11:11), Sudhir Mishra’s Crime Beat, Direct to digital movies Manoj Bajpayee’s Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai and Silence 2, Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Haddi and Love is Blind, Pankaj Tripathi’s Kadak Singh, Huma Qureshi’s Tarla, Sunny Deol’s post-theatrical Gadar 2; and power-packed regional titles like Vetrimaaran and Vijay Sethupathi’s Viduthalai - Part 1, Arya's Kathar Basha Endra Muthuramalingam, Nagraj Manjule’s Ghar Banduk Biryani. 

ZEE5 has partnered with creators such as Dharma Productions, Salman Khan Films, Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment, Bhanushali Studios, The Viral Fever (TVF), Goldie Behl’s Rose Audio Visuals, Applause Entertainment, Sudhir Mishra, Vikas Bahl, Vivek Agnihotri, and Nagraj Manjule for the content slate. 

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