Technoglitch
Core Member
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) has decided to shut down its more-than-a-decade-old lifestyle channel Zee Trendz due to below-par performance. Originally launched on 1 May 2003, Zee Trendz will go off air on 5 April from all direct-to-home (DTH) and cable TV platforms. In fact, DTH operator Airtel Digital TV had removed the channel in January itself.
“We have taken a corporate decision to close the channel. I don’t want to get into the specifics of it but it is part of our rationalisation exercise. We thought we can’t take a long-term bet on the channel, which is why we have decided to shut it down,” ZEEL chief strategy officer Atul Das told TelevisionPost.com. Asked whether ZEEL will launch a new channel to replace Zee Trendz, Das said the company has not yet taken a decision.
“As of now, we have decided to shut the channel. We have not decided what to do with Zee Trendz licence but there are no plans to launch a channel for the time being,” he explained. Zee Trendz was a pay channel priced at Rs 1.07 on a la carte basis for non-CAS areas, as reported to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) by the broadcaster. Zee Trendz competed with international fashion channel FTV.
Zee Trendz had launched as a fashion and lifestyle channel catering to young SEC A and B audiences. It later changed strategy to add music content in its programming mix. Zee Trendz was a subscription-driven channel. In fact, it was the first channel in India to go completely ad free. A premium international music and lifestyle channel, it reached over 16 million households. Targeted at the hip, contemporary and style-conscious viewer, Zee Trendz provided in-depth style analysis, news and directions on the latest in fashion trends and must-have accessories from around the world. With a strong focus on music, Trendz introduced a programming concept that interludes a 30-minute English music band in every hour of programming. It also showcased international music with a comprehensive round-up of chartbusters every hour.
The menu on offer comprised retro music on ‘Re-play’, hip-hop and rap on ‘Blingz’, ‘Babelicious’ music divas getting naughty, videos on ‘Sizzle’ and ‘Style Q’. ZEEL chief sales officer Ashish Sehgal said that the decision to shut Zee Trendz has more to do with fixing the priorities. “We wanted to focus more on our English GEC and movie channel rather than having a third flanking product that was not doing well,” he averred.
Sehgal also said that the fashion space is a niche within the niche and at this point there is not much room for this genre in India. “However, it’s not that fashion as a genre cannot work in India. We can definitely look at it in future but at this point our priority is to focus on better yielding channels,” he said. The management was also facing bandwidth constraint particularly since ZEEL has a bouquet of 33 channels spanning across various genres, he stated. ZEEL’s English bouquet now comprises English entertainment channel Zee Café and English movie channel Zee Studio. Both the channels cater to the higher SECs of the TV-viewing audience in India.
http://www.televisionpost.com/television/zeel-to-shutter-music-and-lifestyle-channel-zee-trendz/ | TelevisionPost.com
“We have taken a corporate decision to close the channel. I don’t want to get into the specifics of it but it is part of our rationalisation exercise. We thought we can’t take a long-term bet on the channel, which is why we have decided to shut it down,” ZEEL chief strategy officer Atul Das told TelevisionPost.com. Asked whether ZEEL will launch a new channel to replace Zee Trendz, Das said the company has not yet taken a decision.
“As of now, we have decided to shut the channel. We have not decided what to do with Zee Trendz licence but there are no plans to launch a channel for the time being,” he explained. Zee Trendz was a pay channel priced at Rs 1.07 on a la carte basis for non-CAS areas, as reported to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) by the broadcaster. Zee Trendz competed with international fashion channel FTV.
Zee Trendz had launched as a fashion and lifestyle channel catering to young SEC A and B audiences. It later changed strategy to add music content in its programming mix. Zee Trendz was a subscription-driven channel. In fact, it was the first channel in India to go completely ad free. A premium international music and lifestyle channel, it reached over 16 million households. Targeted at the hip, contemporary and style-conscious viewer, Zee Trendz provided in-depth style analysis, news and directions on the latest in fashion trends and must-have accessories from around the world. With a strong focus on music, Trendz introduced a programming concept that interludes a 30-minute English music band in every hour of programming. It also showcased international music with a comprehensive round-up of chartbusters every hour.
The menu on offer comprised retro music on ‘Re-play’, hip-hop and rap on ‘Blingz’, ‘Babelicious’ music divas getting naughty, videos on ‘Sizzle’ and ‘Style Q’. ZEEL chief sales officer Ashish Sehgal said that the decision to shut Zee Trendz has more to do with fixing the priorities. “We wanted to focus more on our English GEC and movie channel rather than having a third flanking product that was not doing well,” he averred.
Sehgal also said that the fashion space is a niche within the niche and at this point there is not much room for this genre in India. “However, it’s not that fashion as a genre cannot work in India. We can definitely look at it in future but at this point our priority is to focus on better yielding channels,” he said. The management was also facing bandwidth constraint particularly since ZEEL has a bouquet of 33 channels spanning across various genres, he stated. ZEEL’s English bouquet now comprises English entertainment channel Zee Café and English movie channel Zee Studio. Both the channels cater to the higher SECs of the TV-viewing audience in India.
http://www.televisionpost.com/television/zeel-to-shutter-music-and-lifestyle-channel-zee-trendz/ | TelevisionPost.com
