DISBOOK - The Africa 2012 Edition - (Page 121)
Tr e n d s a n d b u si n e ss - Disbook AfricA 2012
Zee: from a to z
Part of the Essel Group, valued at US $12 billion and employing over 8,000 people, Zee TV has been a major player in the African television market since 1996. disBooK AfricA talks to Territory Head, Africa and indian ocean islands, deepak Jain, and discovers the company’s plans for future expansion in the discop region.
Zee is India’s leading TV operator with around 500 million viewers globally, and a programme library in excess of 100,00 hours, including over 3,000 movies. Zee TV is a major player, operating channels such as Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zee Sports, Zee Bangla, Zee News, Zee Business, and the music channel Zing. It began its operations in Africa, initially operating only as a content supplier, but in 1996, it launched its first channel on South Africa’s DStv platform. This was followed in December 2006 by a launch on Canal Plus Indian Ocean Island, and in January 2008 by a launch on My TV. Further debuts occurred in May 2010 on Top TV, and on Zuku in July 2011. General Manager Deepak Jain recalls that, “At the time of our initial launch we were the only Indian channel operating anywhere in Africa, and it was not long before we began selling channels on our own behalf, taking responsibility for the necessary infrastructure ourselves, but,” he adds, “these were difficult times because costs were very high then.” Initially, the service was only offered in either Hindi or Punjabi, but, as Jain points out, “one of the features of the Indian Diaspora in Africa, and especially in South Africa, is that many of these people left India a long time ago, often several generations ago. This means that they have largely lost touch with the language, and so, in 2000 we began offering content with English subtitles. In 2002, we launched a separate feed for Zee, and then we launched our Bollywood channel and also our music channel. Now one or more of the Zee channels are available on all the major DTH platforms across the region.” In Africa, Zee currently operates a total of six channels, but they are not the same channels everywhere. In East Africa, for example, the company has a Punjabi language channel, but this is not available anywhere else in Africa. The offer, in addition to Zee TV, also includes the Bollywood channel, Zee Cinema, the music channel Zing and others. Zee also offers services complete with French subtitles in Reunion. Jain believes that, “The model for our future expansion in Africa will be similar to the models we have used in the Middle East, Indonesia and Russia. Where, not only have we established a separate Zee feed, but we have also introduced Bollywood for the masses. In order to achieve this, it is absolutely necessary to be very keenly aware of local sensibilities, as well, of course, as offering local language versions.” Jain is also convinced that, “There is a big gap in the market for this in Africa.” But he is adamant that, “It is very important to be aware of local sensibilities, not only in terms of the content that is appropriate for that country or region, but also in terms of the story lines that will be popular with the local population.” “The development of this strategy for Africa,” Jain reveals, “will be the focus of our expansion in the immediate future. We are still at the research stage at the moment and so it is too early to say what services we might launch and at which regions they might be targe-
indian actress and singer Mitali Nag, has become synonymous as Krishna in Zee TV’s AfsAr BiTiYA. she plays the lead role in the Indian soap opera of a lower middle class girl in a small town called Bhagalpur in Bihar. Krishna is a confident girl always immersed in the world of books. Though her family has not been very supportive towards her higher education, her zeal to continue studying eventually makes her a successful government officer.
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http://www.zeetelevision.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DISBOOK - The Africa 2012 Edition
Cover
Foreword - Welcome to Johannesburg!
Content
Conference Program
- English Version
- Version Française
Joburg Vibes
- Street Talks
- Drum Archive
- Made in Maboneng
- The Bioscope
- Faces
First Look
- Watercolors of love - Siri
- Mooz-Lum - Meet the Adebanjo’s
- Irrational Heart - Destiny River
- City of Men - Black hands
Trends & Business
- Made in Africa / Made for Africa
- The titans of laamb
- Inside «Inside Story»
- Ecology of african audiovisual content industry
- Gems from the namibian film collection
- The century of formats
- Great formats will come from Africa
- Partners wanted
- How many people (really) watch TV in Africa?
- Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ?
- Africa’s digital switchover is coming - The question is when ?
- Intelsat’s epic
- China in Africa
- Zee : from a to z
- The Brazilians are coming !
- Against all odds
- Discover Discovery in Africa at Discop Africa
- Television with a purpose - A detailed look at educational television
- Branded Entertainment
- Hot docs-Blue ice, a unique opportunity for African documentary makers
- A solution to Africa’s thorny problem of dubbing costs
- Mission statement
Country report
- ALGERIA
- ANGOLA
- BENIN
- BOSTWANA
- BURKINA FASO
- BURUNDI
- CABO VERDE
- CAMEROON
- CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
- CHAD
- COMOROS
- DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
- DJIBOUTI
- EGYPT
- EQUATORIAL GUINEA
- ERITREA
- ETHIOPIA
- GABON
- GAMBIA
- GHANA
- GUINEA BISSAU
- GUINEA CONAKRY
- IVORY COAST / CÔTE D'IVOIRE
- KENYA
- LESOTHO
- LIBERIA
- LYBIA
- MADAGASCAR
- MALAWI
- MALI
- MAURITANIA
- MAURITIUS
- MOROCCO
- MOZAMBIQUE
- NAMIBIA
- NIGER
- NIGERIA
- REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
- RWANDA
- SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE
- SIERRA LEONE
- SENEGAL
- SEYCHELLES
- SOMALIA
- SOUTH AFRICA
- SOUTH SUDAN
- SUDAN
- SWAZILAND
- TANZANIA
- TOGO
- TUNISIA
- UGANDA
- ZAMBIA
- ZIMBABWE
Speakers
Participants
Index Advertisers
DISBOOK - The Africa 2012 Edition
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