From marquee offerings  like ‘Along With The US’ launched in early 2000, where latest international shows like The Big Bang Theory, Grey’s Anatomy and Supergirl were aired along with their US release, to the introduction of binge-watching as a format with ‘House of Cards S3’ and subsequent properties like ‘BBC First’ and ‘Breakfast To Bed Binge’ – Zee Café has always catered to the evolving consumer needs. As the channel completes 20 years in the TV industry, exchange4media caught up wth Kartik Mahadev, Business Head, Premium Channels, ZEEL, to talk about Zee Cafe’s journey, the challenges of the category and future growth drivers. 

Edited Excerpts

How has Zee Cafe’s 20-year journey been? What were the key highlights in the last two decades? 

Two decades ago, while the Indian audience was still warming up to international content, Zee bolstered a new era of English programming on television with the launch of what was then called Zee English, later rebranded as Zee Café. 
In early 2000, consumption of English entertainment was still at a nascent stage in India where those who spoke, understood and appreciated international content on television formed just a sliver of the pie. Today, this has grown into a glocal community. Zee Café has played a pivotal role in shaping this genre through compelling content and shaping the aspirations of this community of international content viewers.
As consumption appetite for English entertainment evolved, we introduced compelling dramas as part of properties like Hollywood On Café and the BBC First Dramas that added a complex and visceral mix of content with a TV-first approach. We also provided a variety of content with locally-nuanced content such as celebrity chat shows like ‘Look Who’s Talking with Niranjan’ in the past, and shows like ‘Not Just Supper Stars’ and ‘Starry Nights’ featuring A-list bollywood celebrities more recently.

What were the challenges that the category has witnessed in the last couple of years? 

Over the years, the cluster has truly positioned itself as the preferred destination for international content and the global template has worked for the Indian market. The challenge we face is finding creative and innovative solutions that deliver value to both the consumer and the customer. Now with the choice of platforms and content increasing, as broadcasters, we need to be even more choiceful of the content we pick. It should be tailored to evolving consumer preferences. Our customers benefit from the association with premium international content that they are not able to directly associate with on digital due to restrictions behind paywalls. We need to deliver solutions that provide value to our partners through synergies of the premium subscriber base and premium exclusive content. 

The wide range of international content available on several OTT platforms impacted the growth of English GEC. How can channels in this category overcome this challenge? 

There is no doubt that the digital video platforms are here to stay. However, today we live in an ‘and’ world, not an ‘or’ world. English entertainment (Movies + GEC) on television caters to 170mn+ viewers. The lockdown has shown us that the viewers choose to watch television for the curated content experience it provides, and not just individuals but the entire family. 
The surge in TV viewership post lockdown tells us that television is the trusted medium of entertainment. Television provides youth-focused brands and premium brands the opportunity to associate with a premium subscriber base that is defined on their content choice. This sort of content and platform synergy for brands to associate with is not available on OTT platforms where English content is behind paywall. While content consumption on OTT is growing, it is the Hindi and regional original content that are the primary drivers of this growth. 
Television is and will continue to be the destination for brands to build long-term content association with a premium subscriber base. The locally nuanced shows such as Starry Nights Gen Y, also provides an opportunity to drive branded content integrations in an organic manner.

What programming strategy should be followed?

When it comes to OTT, content discovery is and will continue to pose a challenge to viewers looking to unwind with quality content. This is where television channels that understand their consumer and curate well, delight the viewer. That’s our honest endeavor at Zee Café to provide a fresh catalogue of content that best matches our viewers preferences. 
Post lockdown, the channel has added 256 hours of content, including latest dramas such as Nancy Drew. While marquee international shows bring the best of the world to our viewers, locally produced content allows us to add a new dimension from the Indian point of view. In the future, we have a robust line-up of light-hearted and locally nuanced content that help build relevance from an Indian context.

Since the GEC content and sport events are back, do you see the viewership for English GECs increasing with the same pace? 
Post lockdown, television saw a rise in viewership to 1.27 trillion viewing minutes and English genre too has  seen a viewership growth of 70% during the lockdown period.
With out-of-home entertainment options being limited in the new normal, television viewership certainly witnessed a surge with individuals and families coming together. Going forward, out-of-home entertainment that operates in confined spaces will take longer to return to normalcy. Thus, the need for entertainment in home will continue to grow even post the lockdown ends. The immediate context is an opportunity for growth.
Zee Café is seeing growth in viewership and a steady subscriber base. We have a robust content line-up that includes a mix of sitcoms, dramas and reality TV.

In the last two months, some broadcasters have shut down their English Entertainment channels under revenue pressure? Does that put the category under more pressure?

We are currently seeing growth in viewership and a steady subscriber base. A steady subscriber base is testimony to the strength of our curated offerings, be it drama, sitcoms and reality shows. There is demand for both locally-nuanced content and light-hearted entertainment. Our sense is that this trend is going to continue for some time. TV continues to be a safe and trusted destination for entertainment even as out of home entertainment options are limited. 
Moreover, youth-focused premium brands can pick and choose fresh content that they can associate with to reach a premium subscriber base given a sharply segmented audience that English entertainment on television attracts while similar content on digital is behind paywall. We at Zee English cluster are committed to constantly innovating to suit the evolving needs of our viewers.

What is Zee Cafe doing to enhance viewers’ experience and drive higher engagement?

At Zee Café, our content philosophy was built around ‘All eyes on new’, with an endeavor to deliver fresh content or a fresh perspective to iconic content. With curation as our core focus, we’ve constantly introduced new programming formats and new properties that best suit the needs of our ever-evolving viewers. With content blocks such as ‘BBC First’ and ‘Along with the Us’,  where our viewers watched fresh content series along with its international telecast. Also shows like Titan Games, American Idol, Battlebots are available on television first. Catering to the evolving needs of the consumer, we introduced locally-nuanced content that broadened the consumption repertoire on the channel.

Going forward, what is going to be the key drivers for both viewership and revenues? 
With out-of-home entertainment options being limited in the new normal, television will continue to be the trusted entertainment destination for individuals and families. In the long run, regional markets will continue to fuel new user growth for English entertainment. There is a whole set of audience moving from regional to English content as they become more comfortable with English as a professional, conversational language.

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