Zee launches Marathi movie channel

Zee Entertainment has announced the launch of its second Marathi movie channel.

 

Called Zee Chitramandir, the channel is aimed at the four million Free Dish households in Maharashtra. Zee's current Marathi channel Zee Talkies is for pay TV subscribers.

 

This follows the launch of Zee Vajwa, a music channel for the Marathi audience. 

 

Amit Shah, cluster head – North, West and premium channels, Zee, said, “Customer centricity has been the heart and soul of everything that we do at Zee. Whether it’s through our popular TV shows or extraordinary movies from the Zee Studios portfolio, our strong storytelling across platforms has been instrumental in strengthening Zee’s equity in each and every aspect of Maharashtra. Zee’s Marathi portfolio features strong content brands that have become a part of our consumer’s day to day life, whether it is our GECs – Zee Marathi or our leading movie channel Zee Talkies, capturing 50%+ market share or our recent launch Zee Vajwa for the Marathi Music viewer. The launch of Zee Chitramandir will further enhance our offering to the Marathi audiences, with the cluster covering 70% reach in the market. With the largest and richest movie catalogue in the category, Zee Chitramandir  will entertain audiences with the best of never seen before movie titles offering quality entertainment to the audiences in their native language.”

 

Ashish Sehgal, chief growth officer – advertisement revenue, Zee, said, “With the rural economy growing, income levels across strata are improving, thereby leading to high consumption in the FTA markets. This is further attracting advertisers, who want to capture the potential in these markets. Zee’s dominance in the regional markets has been a major growth-driver of regional viewership and revenue, and we are excited to bring a new Free Dish offering to cater to the large audience segment available in the Marathi free market. With Zee Chitramandir, we are strengthening our channel portfolio in the Maharashtra market, adding value to our partners’ plans and giving them an opportunity to engage more deeply with their consumers.”

 

Zee Chitramandir is available to all Free Dish users from 9 April.