Indian media company Zee Entertainment Enterprises is to expand to Germany as it looks to launch a free-to-air TV channel in mid-2016.
The organisation, which is a subsidiary of the Essel Group, wants to air Bollywood movies, Indian series, entertainment and general interest programmes.
The 24-hour service, which aims for distribution on all major cable and satellite platforms, has a core target group of women between the ages of 19 and 59.
Friederike Behrends, former head of Swedish internet TV provider Magine TV in Germany, will be responsible for developing the business in the German-speaking markets. She is reportedly negotiating with platform operators to quickly expand the reach across all broadcast infrastructures.
“Our expansion to Germany is an important step in our digitalisation strategy. The goal is to gain sustaining presence and to grow,” said Amit Goenka, CEO of International Broadcast Business, of Zee Entertainment.
Neeraj Dhingra, CEO of Europe of Asia TV (Zee TV), added, “The launch of the channel marks Zee Entertainment’s entry into one of the most important TV markets worldwide, in which the Bollywood genre has not really been present yet. With 210,000 hours of programmes and more than 3,500 movie titles, we want to entertain German viewers with Indian content.”
