Any reasonably clued-in digital content buff will know about the much-publicised tie-up of ZEE5 and SonyLIV. These two are inarguably the biggest homegrown OTT players in the Indian content space. ZEE5 and SonyLIV may have been late entrants into the world of OTT, as compared to foreign streaming giants Netflix and Prime Video. But recent developments have shown that the two are poised to overtake the biggies in the long run.
It is due to the well-thought-out strategy that the ZEE5 – SonyLIV combine has put in place in recent days. The brains at the two Indian streamers, ZEE5 and SonyLIV, have struck upon the ideal strategy to grab maximum eyeballs in the lucrative Indian streaming market. It is sound strategy, designed to pull subscribers to the two platforms, right from under the noses of deep-pocketed, money-throwing OTT platforms, Netflix, Prime Video and Disney Plus Hotstar.
So what is the strategy all about?
ZEE5 and SonyLIV have embarked upon a dedicated, conscientious plan to create original content in prominent non-Hindi languages of the country. ZEE5 recently announced a slew of original content in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Punjabi – more than 40 shows in total. Anantham, Gaalivaana, Nilamellam Ratham, Fingertip S2, Paper Rocket, Recce, Kinnerasaani, Yaar Anmulle Returns, Fuffad Ji, Shikarpur, Raktakarabi, Swetkali, Five-Six-Seven-Eight, Alma Mater, Ayali, Thalamai Seyalagam, Fingertip 2, Kolaigara Kairegaigal and Aindham Vedham, Paruvu, Bahishkarana, The Black Coat, Prema Vimanam, Maa Neella Tank, ATM are some of the non-Hindi titles announced by ZEE5 recently.
ZEE5 has promised to triple its investments in Tamil and Telugu content.
Likewise with SonyLIV. The streamer has announced two buzzy Tamil shows recently – Meme Boys and TamilRockerz. Both have generated a lot of chatter amongst OTT viewers. SonyLIV also has a steady output of Marathi shows on its platform. The recent Pet Puraan was extremely well-received by Marathi viewers.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Netflix, Disney Plus Hotstar and Prime Video are primarily engaged in churning out original content in Hindi. Prime Video’s recently announced slate of Indian Originals barely had any Tamil, Telugu or other language titles, save for Suzhal, Modern Love Hyderabad and Modern Love Chennai. Disney Plus Hotstar has paid mere lip service to content diversity by releasing a couple of Telugu original series recently. Other than that, zilch.
Netflix is the worst offender when it comes to Indian Originals in non-Hindi languages. It doesn’t have a single non-Hindi original title to its name – just dubbed versions of its Hindi shows.
Both SonyLIV and ZEE5 are miles ahead of Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus Hotstar etc in the aforementioned category. And it is original content in non-Hindi languages that will contribute to their surging ahead in Indian streaming entertainment.
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