Since Q4 FY20, we launched a number of new channels for our Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Tamil, Kannada and Marathi audiences. The strong traction seen from the Hindi GEC, Bangla, Telugu, Kannada, and Oriya market has been an incentive for us to boost investments and retain our leadership position, while the intense competition drives us to strengthen our presence in other language markets.
The decision to venture into markets beyond Hindi has been an important growth driver for us, and that is evident in the spike in viewership. The introduction of the channels also provided a strong impetus in these markets due to the increase in availability of quality content.
ZEE was the first pan-India network to launch a Punjabi GEC in Q4FY20. Since its launch, Zee Punjabi has had a massive impact on Punjabi language viewership. Viewership increased by 17% and share of Punjabi GEC in the language went up from 11% in Q3 FY20 (before the launch of Zee Punjabi) to 22% (FY22). By the end of FY22, Zee Punjabi became the leading entertainment channel across Punjab and had a 25% higher viewership than the next player.
Zee Chitramandir (Marathi movies) created history by becoming the leader across the 100+ options on FreeDish in its debut week in Maharashtra.
The five new regional channels added 108bps to the network share in FY22, strengthening ZEE’s base in new territories.
ZEE’s journey into the southern markets is one we take immense pride in. In the last four years, we witnessed a steady growth in this region. Driving this is our two channels—Zee Picchar and Zee Thirai—and the quality of localised content we produce for the Kannada and Tamil-speaking audience, respectively.
Contribution of other language markets to ZEE’s viewership in FY22
Zee Punjabi recorded consistent growth quarter on quarter, achieving all-time-high viewership in Q4
