Zee Chithramandir debuts as #1 free dish channel in Maharashtra

Zee Chithramandir debuts as #1 free dish channel in Maharashtra

Channel garnered two-thirds of market share in the region in its debut week.

Zee Chithramandir

Mumbai: Zee Chithramandir, the latest movie channel from Zee Enterprises Ltd (ZEE) has emerged at the top spot on the free dish platform within a week of its launch. According to a statement issued by ZEE, the channel has garnered two-thirds of the market share in the Marathi speaking cluster in its debut week. 

The statement noted that Zee Chithramandir was the most viewed channel with the highest time shift viewing (TSV) of 368 minutes and an opening reach of 39.1 percent on the free dish platform in the state. The channel was launched with the premiere of Sairat, the blockbuster Marathi movie directed by Nagraj Manjule, and it was followed by the telecast of several superhit titles. 

"We are extremely delighted to receive such a phenomenal response from the audience, despite launching the channel during the pandemic. At ZEE, we are obsessed with a consumer-first approach, our hyperlocal strategy is based on our in-depth understanding of consumers’ interests as well as deep market intelligence, thereby helping us achieve undisputed leadership by garnering over two-thirds of the market share in the Marathi entertainment space. ZEE’s Marathi cluster entertains 43.8 million viewers every week," said Zee Enterprises Limited, cluster-head, north, west & premium channels, Amit Shah. 

It is also one of the first channels in the free-to-air market to come up with a one-of-its-kind consumer engagement activity to facilitate the returning of the FTA dish boxes to increase channel sampling and strengthen the connection with consumers. As part of the engagement initiative, viewers can convey their wishes to their loved ones across Maharashtra, on special occasions. The activity witnessed participation with over 30,000 entries within two weeks of its launch. 

Zee Enterprises Ltd, chief growth officer -advertisement revenue, Ashish Sehgal said, "Since the Covid outbreak, the media and entertainment space has witnessed the emergence of multiple new trends and has broken certain age-old norms. Regional content viewership across the country has registered double-digit growth, suggesting viewers’ reliance on TV as the most preferred medium for entertainment. On a national level, the movie genre has registered significant growth in viewership and ad volumes driven by the rise of family viewing. Zee Chitramandir is tailor-made to suit the palette of viewers in Maharashtra, which has further boosted the advertisers’ response towards the channel."