US set to be the most lucrative market outside India for Zee5

Streaming video provider Zee5 is aiming to become the largest provider for South Asian content in the American market.

“The US has the most mature OTT market where the audience has the propensity to pay. In fact, generally for our global markets we have both Advertising-based Video on Demand (AVOD) and Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) offerings, but for the American market we are only providing subscription-based content with a pure SVOD model,” Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, Zee5 Global, told BusinessLine.

The OTT platform is looking to shed its image as merely the go-to platform for the small town audienceby foraying into creating content for the crowded tier 1 city audience. Their aim is to reinvent themselves as a platform which also has a content library that appeals more to the taste of urban palettes as well as suitable for export abroad.

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With over half a million hits on the Zee5 website in the days preceding the launch in the US, Anand is optimistic that they are going to meet their targets in as soon as two months, “Days into the launch, the trend we have seen so far is very positive. In fact we are set to achieve our internal target in as soon as two months. This launch is doing far better than our previous global launches,” said Anand.

Premium subscription fee

US is likely to be the most lucrative market for Zee5, next to India, in terms of revenue. In addition, Bangladesh, the UAE, the UK continue to be top priority markets for Zee5. “Countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan in terms of population and demand have given us great engagement. However their OTT market is very pre-India with their digital infrastructure and digital payments methods not being fully set up,” said Anand. Thus according to Anand, countries like the US are far likely to outstrip core South Asian markets due to their premium subscription fee.

According to Anand, Zee5 is making a move for the more urban, woke, and younger audience, which is likely to resonate with the global South Asian diaspora as well. “The Friends Reunion launch on Zee5, our recent partnership with TVF as well as the new urban content we are churning out with our originals in Bangladesh is geared directly towards that,” Anand said.