ZEE5 to be launched in US on 22 June; will aim to target large diaspora audience in the region

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) will launch its streaming platform ZEE5 in the US market on 22 June, targeting the large diaspora audience in the region. The platform is currently under beta testing in the US market, ZEE5 said in a statement. “The US is the final and largest launch for ZEE5, setting the stage for its rapid growth in a market with a ready 5.4 million diaspora audience that has a deep cultural and language connect to this content,” the statement added. ZEE5 will “officially announce its launch in the US on 22 June” at a virtual event where its platform and content will be unveiled. “This direct-to-consumer service launch is especially significant at a time when Indians in the US, many of whom remain deeply connected to their roots, are unable to travel home,” the statement said. ZEE5 will provide 130,000 hours of content across 18 languages. “With this launch, the streaming platform will open up access to the largest catalogue of South Asian i.e., Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi content to diaspora and even mainstream content consumers in the US,” it said. ZEE5’s content library is tailor-made for the diverse cultures and languages of the Indian and South Asian communities in the US, it noted. “The languages include Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Punjabi, as well as Malay, Thai, Bahasa, Arabic, Urdu and Bangla (Bangladeshi). Key titles are also subtitled or dubbed in English,” it added. ZEE5’s annual pack has been priced at $84 and will be available across all major devices at a limited launch offer price of $49.99. ZEEL President, Digital Businesses and Platforms, Amit Goenka said the US is the group’s most significant market. “As a global media conglomerate, we have had a very deep connection with our diaspora audiences here, so it is a rather happy moment for me to now be bringing this audience the largest aggregation of South Asian content on a single platform through ZEE5,” he said.