Hybrid content model: ZEEL blends cinema with GEC for enhanced viewer stickiness

Time of India

18-07-2025

Zee
Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) has rebranded its legacy identity to a sleek, future-facing 'Z', signaling a pivotal transformation into a dynamic content-tech company. This renewed vision includes the launch of two hybrid channels, Zee Power and
Zee Bangla
Sonar, which are reimagined versions of existing movie channels.
According to the EY-FICCI 2025, GECs and movie channels together accounted for 75 percent of total television viewership, a ratio that has remained consistent over the past seven years. However, despite this dominant share of viewership, these genres attracted only 52 percent of total ad volumes with GECs contributing 30 percent and movie channels 21 percent, highlighting a clear disparity between viewership and advertising investment.
Ashish Sehgal, chief growth officer at ZEEL, explained the strategic insight that led to this transformation. He said, 'Advertising trends always follow consumer trends. While our mainline GECs cater to a broad audience, we realised that a new, underserved viewer segment those with sharper, more eclectic tastes was not being addressed adequately on television. By reimagining movie channels, which already have wide reach but low time spent, into hybrid platforms, we're able to deliver differentiated content without cannibalising our existing GEC base.'
He further added, 'These hybrid channels will cater to the new-age, often male-skewed audience, offering both fiction and non-fiction stories that aren't currently told on mainstream television. For advertisers, this opens up sharper targeting and lower entry costs, attracting even newer categories like BFSI, travel, or tourism who might not afford premium GEC slots.'
Fresh narratives, finite storytelling & targeted audiences
In the Kannada market, Zee Power replaces the movie channel
Zee Picchar
, positioning itself as a sharply defined platform for aspirational, progressive content.
Siju Prabhakaran
, chief cluster officer, South and West, ZEEL, explained the strategic focus on Karnataka and Bengal markets. "Our extensive engagement with consumers in Karnataka and Bengal reveals a specific, underserved audience: aspirational, impatient viewers who crave new narratives, stronger emotional arcs, and faster-paced stories. Currently, no platform adequately caters to these preferences."
While
Zee Kannada
caters to the entire family, Zee Power is "sharply defined" for an 18-25 age group, with a specific point of view. This content will also be available on Zee5, expanding its reach across platforms. By offering distinct narratives and catering to an underserved segment, ZEEL aims to capture new viewership and advertising revenue, solidifying its position as a dynamic content-tech leader.
Zee Power will offer a robust content platter with five original fiction shows daily and one daily non-fiction show at launch. The fiction shows will feature finite storytelling, typically running for 150-200 episodes, a departure from the longer 500-600 episode formats common on mainstream GECs. Key shows include, Rajkumari, Jodi Hakki, Durge, Subhashya Sheegram, Gouri and a non-fiction show Halli Power (Villa to Village).
He also highlighted that characters portrayed on Zee Power will be more progressive and represent "today's women", differing from the more traditional underdog narratives seen on existing GECs. Halli Power, for instance, explores the dynamic confluence of urban and rural populations, capturing the aspirations of rural India through a reality format featuring city girls interacting with village boys.
Prabhakaran further elaborated on the market dynamics, noting that GECs still dominate TV viewership 55-60 percent , while movies range from 10-15 percent depending on the market. He highlighted that while the Telugu market is a high movie-consuming market, Karnataka is a low one, making the GEC conversion particularly sensible there. The premium pricing and reach commanded by a targeted GEC channel are significantly higher than a movie channel.
In the
Bangla
market, Zee Bangla Cinema is now replaced by Zee Bangla Sonar.
Samrat Ghosh
, chief cluster officer, East, North & Premium Cluster, ZEEL, provided insights into the Bengali television market, describing it as robust on the back of Bangla GEC, Bangla movies, and Bangla news, which together contribute almost 62 percent to the overall market viewership in Bengal. Of this, 43 percent comes from the Bangla GEC category itself.
According to Ghosh, the Bangla television industry has 15.3 million television households, with a penetration of 66 percent which is "a bit under-indexed compared to the national average of 71 percent." This presents a "huge advantage" for ZEEL, indicating significant headroom for growth. Furthermore, rural Bengal is also experiencing growth, and there are populations in smaller towns yet to be reached and whose stories are yet to be told on screen.
Ghosh highlighted the duopoly nature of the Bangla GEC category, where Zee Bangla and another leading channel together contribute around 85 percent of the overall Bangla GEC viewership. The remaining channels combined account for only 15 percent. This significant gap, with the third channel at approximately 50 GRP compared to the leading channels with over 500 GRPs, indicates a "need for a strong number three player" in the market.
'The launch of Zee Bangla Sonar is strategically envisioned to "complement Zee Bangla via targeting the emerging and the evolving audience base." While Zee Bangla's core audience is female 25+, urban-centric, and highly NCCS AB skewed, the new proposition is based on market needs. There are smaller towns who are not fully representative of the Bangla GEC space coupled with the fact that all the GEC channels for their core audience are always female. So, none of the channels are actually targeting the male audiences," Ghosh stated.
Zee Bangla Sonar's core target audience will be male and smaller-town viewers, while remaining inclusive of female audiences, recognising that in single television homes, the content must cater to the entire family's entertainment needs.
Zee Bangla Sonar's content strategy aims to be a strong third player in the Bengali GEC market by targeting a male and smaller-town audience, complementing the flagship Zee Bangla. Fiction offerings like Bedini Jyotsnar Amar Prem and Shriman Bhagawan Das. Non-fiction will feature differentiated concepts such as the musical reality show Sonar Jalshaghar and snackable content like the prank show Akkel Gudum and spooky segments.
Strategic value in Zee's hybrid pivot
Media experts affirm Zee's hybrid approach as timely and necessary in today's fragmented content landscape. The evolving nature of competition in Indian media is profoundly shaped by the explosive growth of OTT platforms, offering on-demand, personalised content that directly challenges linear TV for viewership and ad revenue.
This shift compels broadcasters to innovate with hybrid models and cater to niche audiences, as consumers increasingly exhibit platform fluidity and demand diverse content experiences.
Rajesh Sethi, senior advisor at PwC India, said that Zee's shift to hybrid channels is a strategic response to changing viewer preferences, tougher competition, and the need for better ad revenues. With audiences wanting more than just movies, especially as OTT platforms take attention, Zee Power and
Zee BanglaSonar
mix films with GEC content to offer diverse, personalized entertainment that competes with both Linear TV and digital players.
'This move may help the broadcaster retain its core audience while opening new ways to engage and monetize. Moving beyond single-genre movie channels allows Zee to position its regional channels as a full entertainment destination, boosting loyalty, viewer stickiness, and reducing churn. Overall, the hybrid strategy may broaden reach, deepen engagement, and help keep organisation nimble in the fast evolving media landscape,' said Sethi.
A senior media planner who wished to remain anonymous noted that the media landscape has undergone a significant transformation with the rise of web series and original digital content. Today's Gen Z and new-age audiences are constantly in search of fresh, immersive experiences and their deep-rooted connection to vernacular languages like Kannada and Bangla gives broadcasters a unique opportunity.
'Broadcasters are smartly responding by creating what I call a 'hybrid' content model,' they explained. 'The idea is to replicate the success of Hindi GECs and their OTT counterparts, which have won over Gen Z by offering content precisely how and where they want it. Audiences today are platform-fluid—they switch seamlessly between digital and linear screens.'
Media planner added that integrating original series and movies on the same channel not only keeps viewers engaged but also offers valuable viewership data for sharper, data-led targeting. Also, it will help the broadcaster monetise better. 'It's about merging two previously distinct audiences —GEC and movie viewers into one unified proposition. Rather than investing heavily in launching new GEC channels that risk competing with their own portfolio, broadcasters are opting to rebrand movie channels into hybrid destinations. It's a strategic, cost-effective move that maximises both reach and relevance in an increasingly dynamic media environment.'