How Zee Cinema plans to retain its viewers during IPL season

Even as the entire nation is gripped by IPL fever, Zee Cinema is all set to introduce a fresh dose of blockbuster entertainment with its new property – Cinema Premier League. The property will feature five ‘teams’ – Khan Riders, Family Indians, South Kings, Comedy Challengers and Action Warriors. 

Starting Saturday, April 7 to Sunday, May 27, Cinema Premier League will air movies from each of these teams daily over the 50-day period. 

Speaking at the launch of this unique league, Prathyusha Agarwal, Chief Marketing Officer, ZEEL, said, “We at ZEE strongly believe that the content our viewers want is king. Cricket and Movies being the two big religions that bring India together, a Cinema Premier League is the natural answer to delight the viewers who will be flocking to their screens this cricket season. So on Zee Cinema, we decided to add some Masti to the Movies and create an epic battle between the various genres of cinema fronted by a celebrity supporter. Changing the meaning of victory and defeat, let the curtains rise for an exceptional game of cinema.” 

Ruchir Tiwari, Business Head, Zee Hindi Movies Cluster, added here, “Cinema Premier League is a grand extravaganza, where cinema’s most popular genres will play the most exciting sport of the country. But of course, it’s cinema with a twist! Their fate of win or loss will be in the hands of their fans and each week we will declare who is in the forefront based on viewership data. With Cinema Premier League, we present to our audiences an array of their favourite movies, on an open field. 5 teams, 50 days of entertainment, 1 winner…let the games begin!” 

Also read: 
Zee Cinema announces grand extravaganza ‘Cinema Premier League’

While most of the GECs play safe during IPL season and usually don’t launch any new property, what was the idea behind launching the Cinema Premier League?
Ruchir Tiwari: The idea is to remind the viewers that something is happening in our domain as well. Since cricket has found a new home this season, everywhere the flavour is of cricket only. It is not about clashing or taking on with anybody. Movies are a good fit for so many of the audiences who come to watch cricket. Movies are a good fit for an alternate offering for the audience. 

Prathyusha Agarwal: The journey for CPL had started three months ago and we wanted to start the year with a bang. Nobody has gotten anywhere by playing safe and the big consumer insight for this was that there is big audience surge and we wanted to capitalise on this opportunity. If you have a surge of major audience at this time, how do we capitalise on that surge? Cinema and Cricket are two passion points, and people who are coming for one are equally passionate for the other. So, let’s offer them a platform to come and indulge. 

How will CPL pan out in terms of structure and how will the 5 ‘teams’ compete amongst themselves?
Ruchir Tiwari: There are five zones of teams with very strong USPs. All the teams have very clear content offering which is out there for consumers, which we are going to show for 50 days, and based on the TRPs of every team, we can come up with some updates as to what’s working and ask the viewers to support their teams. It will be predominantly the function of TRPs and everything will go 360 degree simultaneously. Viewers will be motivated to come and watch movies on Zee Cinema and make their team win. 

Prathyusha Agarwal: People believe that content is king, but we believe that the content that people like to watch is the king. So, instead of the game being just a game, here the winners are the people who watch the most. We have mixed the TV codes with a game code so, if the people watch something, that’s the winner. It is not about one team fighting with another. Of course, there is a digital leg to it and Fandom. There has always been fandom for superstars, but creating love for the five teams and people rooting for them, building that fandom and passion for movies is the idea behind Cinema Premier League. We will be connecting with the audiences from all the five genres. 

Are you trying to connect with the audience who may not sample the channel, but it will be an opportunity for the newer viewers to come and experience the movies?
Prathyusha Agarwal: It’s about both new viewers and the regular fans. Typically how it works is that from a consumer behaviour point of view, you come for one movie, but when you see the variety of movies, you root for many movies from the genre or the team of your choice because of the fandom. From a strategic point of view, it will also build a repeat value for us. 

Ruchir Tiwari: This also gives you a very clear window of what you would like to watch, what you would like to chase, considering this is holiday season as well. In a way this will help the viewers navigate the channel on a day-to-day basis as well. 

CPL will be airing the movies at the same time that IPL matches are airing. How do you plan to handle the clash of interest from viewers’ point of view?
Prathyusha Agarwal: There has never been a fight, but what else is there for people to watch in between the breaks? We are offering all the genres that people like to watch. 

Ruchir Tiwari: We have had ten seasons of big 20-20 leagues. It is now evidently clear that with such events there is a big opportunity. Obviously, when there is a sporting event happening of IPL’s size, there will be a ratings fall. We have been happily surprised to find that there are a variety of movies that near audience likes to watch during the sports events. When we decoded the formula, we understood that there are certain types of movies that don’t fall much, which clearly means that there are times during the match or post match when people want to catch a break and watch something else. There are certain genres that really work during these times and they capitalise on the incremental audiences that these big events get and thereby, they net out the fall. So, on an average, even if there is a 10-12 per cent fall during IPL season, we have to keep reminding our audiences that they have more stuff to watch out for during the breaks and post the event. The Zee Movies cluster has decoded the trend very well. 

Will the timings of the movies clash with the timing of the IPL matches?
Ruchir Tiwari: With so many matches to follow, there are times when people like to watch some strategic parts of the game and some people have their own ways to consume time. There are two films everyday which will be aired as part of CPL. On Sundays, there will be whole day of drama because it’s a big weekend day. Individual film promotions will align and we’ll have more fun with the franchises. But the idea is to build the habit of watching movies of one’s favourite teams and show the same passion that is shown for IPL. There will be weekly clashes and during the last ten days we will build it up. How the people will be engaging with it depends on the consumer and how competitive they can get to make their teams win. There will be a mix and match of films coming from various teams. 

What is your strategy for marketing the property?
Prathyusha Agarwal: We are pleasantly surprised by the validation of the sponsors. The advertisers’ interest in the idea has been really good. This shows the power of this idea. We already have five sponsors on board. Also, it will be a 360-degree campaign. 

What are your expectations from CPL and what are the gratifications for the viewers?
Ruchir Tiwari & Prathyusha Agarwal: Everything is for the viewers in this. Though there are no payouts, the viewer is the winner because the movie that people love to watch the most will win the trophy at the end of this initiative. 

With this, we expect to grow these genres of movies. The two pillars that we are looking at for growth is the surge of audience that we want to get to the cinema, and secondly making it a bigger and better property which people would like to return to.