Zee Cinemalu out to capture Telugu movie market with launch on Sept 4

In a move to further strengthen its portfolio of regional channels in India, Zee Entertainment Enterprises is set to launch its Telugu movie channel – Zee Cinemalu. Sporting the tagline ‘Dilpai Super Hit’, Zee Cinemalu will go on air on Sunday, September 4, 2016 at 12.05 pm.

Zee Cinemalu will come with properties which are first of its kind in the southern television industry, such as 7 days 7 premieres, WTP (world television premiere), Movie of the Month, and simulcast of mega events.

Zee Cinemalu has also launched a bilingual website with content related to Tollywood news, gossip, box office reviews and channel related information all in one place.

Zee already has presence in the Andhra Pradesh & Telangana markets with its Telugu GEC, Zee Telugu. This is the first time that the South market will witness a combo of general entertainment and film channel.

The media group is also present in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu with its GECs Zee Kannada and Zee Tamil, respectively.

In a brief chat with Sai Prakash who heads the new channel. and reports to Network (Zee Telugu & Zee Cinemalu) Business Head Ms. Anuradha., Zee Cinemalu:

Adgully: Who will be the primary TG for Zee Cinemalu?
Sai Prakash: Zee Cinemalu is positioned as young and aspirational, with the tagline ‘Dilpai Super Hit’. The channel is primarily aiming to target the youth of the region who are above 18 years and will be more skewed towards male viewers.

AG: What kind of content strategy you are planning for the launch?
SP: Well-known actress Vidyullekha Raman is the face of the channel and we are creating differentiated content around her. We have a very good mix of good old to latest movies and are planning to telecast World Television Premieres on Zee Cinemalu, along with events simulcast.

AG: What would be your media mix for the channel promos?
SP: We have 360-degree marketing plan, both on air and off air, and are in the process of executing the same to coincide with the launch date. We will be covering all media, which includes TV, outdoor, print, radio and digital. The Zee Cinemalu channel logo was unveiled by mega star Chiranjeevi in a star-studded event held earlier this month. Incidentally, Chiranjeevi had also launched Zee Telugu in August 2005. Today, Zee Telugu is a formidable player in the market, and with the launch of Zee Cinemalu, we are sure we will continue our success story. We have also launched an exclusive bi-lingual portal, www.zeecinemalu.com, which is first of its kind.

AG: Who has developed the design of the channel?
SP: We engaged international agency Perfect Tribe from the UK for developing the channel look and feel as well as the packaging.

AG: Which are the brands with whom you have partnered with for Zee Cinemalu?
SP: We have Amazon, Close-Up, Fogg, Panasonic and Fortune on board as of now, and many more to confirm.

AG: What is the consumption of regional channels like in the South markets?
SP: Television consumption is high in Andhra Pradesh vis-à-vis other South markets. Movie consumption is high in Andhra Pradesh/ Telangana with more than 30 per cent share.