Zee and Sony TVs are merging. This is a big change in the Indian TV entertainment industry. Star Network is the largest TV network in India with 60 channels to date. Now with the association of Sony and Zee, it is becoming the largest network with 75 channels.
However, the real race in the TV industry is TRP, where Star and Colors are still way ahead of both of them. On the other hand, the race in OTT may be intensified as G5 and Sony LIV together will challenge Netflix on one hand and Amazon Prime on the other in terms of subscriber numbers, bundled packages, and content.
Zee Entertainment has 49 channels in India. Its channel count is more than 100 worldwide. At the same time, Sony has 26 channels in India, 31 channels in the world. What will be the name of the new network, what will be the logo, how many channels will be there, all this will be decided in the coming 90 days. As per the official announcement, certainly, the networks, programming operations, digital assets, and program libraries of the two will be merged.
Right now number three in the TRP game
There were a total of 16 shows in the top 10 shows in TRP. It has GK's 'Kundali Bhagya' and 'Kumkum Bhagya'. On the other hand, Sony's 'Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah', 'Super Dancer Chapter 4' and 'The Kapil Sharma Show' are included.
Star Plus has three shows at the top of the TRP charts, 'Anupama', 'Gum Hai Kisi Ke Pyaar Mein', and 'Imli'. After this, Colors' Udaariyan is in fourth place. Then there is Star's 'Yeh Hai Chahatein' and Colors' Khatron Ke Khiladi. After this comes the number of 'Kundali Bhagya' of G.
Experts from the TV industry say that having a large number of channels is a big deal, but TRP is important in the TV industry. Sony keeps getting shows like 'Kaun Banega Crorepati', 'Kapil Sharma Show, 'Taarak Mehta' but this new network will have to push harder in the general entertainment category.
There will be panic in OTT
It is believed that coming together of these two networks will bring a big change in the OTT sector of India. Currently, Disney Plus Hotstar is in the first position with 2.5 crores of paid subscribers. Prime Video is at the second position with 1.17 million subscribers and Sony LIV is at the third position with 7 million.
Whether the two OTT platforms also merge or remain separate, remains to be seen. However, in any case, both will be able to make better deals with telecom companies for bundled packages. Both will also benefit from each other's content libraries.
In such a situation, the difficulties of Netflix, which is at number four with 46 lakh subscribers, will increase. G5 currently has 4 million subscribers, but it will benefit from better telecom deals.
Coming together to meet the growing challenges in front of the TV
Indian TV and Film Producers Council chairman J.D. Majethia says that the OTT segment saw huge growth during the pandemic. The audience has become a habit, due to which the audience is spending more time on mobile.
On the other hand, cricket or other sports events are played on TV for 100 days of the year. In front of it, the TV industry needs more strong content. To meet these challenges, the two major networks will put their combined strengths. The entire TV industry will benefit from this.
From this perspective, both Zee and Sony have a good library of music and movie content. Apart from this, Sony also has special offers for channels like Sony SUB. Apart from the mainstream, it is also very popular in the region. Both have to take advantage of each other's skills.
Must see work at ground level
Producer and film business expert Girish Johar says that not only in India, but consolidation is also happening in the entertainment industry all over the world including Hollywood. Reliance and T-Series have joined hands in India as well. Dharma Productions and Viacom have also announced to work together.
Investment in such consolidation increases. Efforts are made to create good content in the form of TV shows, OTT shows, or movies to get a return on investment. This gives a boost to the entire market.
Here Sony has a very good premium urban audience, Zee has a very strong regional audience. The two may benefit each other, but it remains to be seen how well this consolidation progresses at the ground level.
Think together for the content too
Well-known TV producer and writer Jama Habib says – both of them will become stronger in terms of content and business. Both have abilities in different genres. If we meet together now, it will only be beneficial. He will become more competitive.
Habib also says that producers and networks move forward keeping in mind the preferences of the audience in TV content. Because of this, there is a situation of sheepishness in TV content. To end this also, all the networks need to sit together and think.
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