FRIENDS Reunion Trailer. Image source: hbomaxPOP | originals
ZEE5, the video-streaming platform from the house of Zee Entertainment, is putting Friends: The Reunion, a special of the famous series Friends, behind paywall with to popularise its annual premium subscription plan.
The special, which will stream on May 27 (today) worldwide, will be available under the yearly plan of Rs 499.
While Friends: The Reunion is behind paywall, the content has attracted advertiser interest with ZEE5 running promos of the special on the advertising video on-demand side. And Amul has got on board.
But the focus is more on the subscription video on-demand (SVOD) side.
Betting big on Friends: The Reunion, Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5, said that quality content will lead to consumers buying the annual pack.
During the announcement of the Q4FY21 results, the company had reported a 5.6 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and 5.8 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in subscription revenues, primarily driven by ZEE5.
"There is a triple digit growth in (subscription) revenues. We are scaling our user base and the plan is to keep this growth going," Kalra told Moneycontrol.
While Kalra did not share the exact subscription revenues last year, according to industry experts, Zee5, which has around 4-5 million subscribers, is in the same range as Netflix in India in terms of paid users. However, Amazon Prime Video, which has around 10 million subscribers and Disney+ Hotstar, which is closer to 24 million subscribers, are ahead of Zee5.
‘This will draw new subscribers in a big way’
This is why Utkarsh Sinha, MD, Bexley Advisors, a boutique investment bank focused on early-stage deals in tech and media, said that Friends: The Reunion will be a massive draw for new subscribers as the show has a lot of buzz around it.
“The show has had a revival after it came to Netflix and had simultaneously been discovered by many younger viewers. This will make many to try out a Zee5 subscription," he added.
Sinha also said that just like the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Disney+Hotstar, highlight events are key to driving subscription conversion for over-the-top (OTT) platforms.
“This wouldn't have been an easy right to win," he added.
Talking about getting the rights for streaming Friends: The Reunion, Kalra said: "It is a premium property which has a lot of followers. So there was a good amount of acquisition cost. For us, it is an investment made with an intent to bring high quality, once-in-a- lifetime show to the Indian audience."
Even Shailesh Kapoor, CEO, Ormax Media, a media consulting firm, said that the simulcast of Friends: The Reunion will help ZEE5 get some new paid subscribers. But he thinks its bigger value lies in how it will help the platform make positive gains in its image among premium English content consumers in India. ZEE5 is generally associated with Hindi content, so this helps them communicate to a more diverse offering."
50 theatricals through the year
When it comes to content, ZEE5 has a line-up of 50 theatricals through the year. "Across four to five languages, we have a plan of 40 web series. The plan is to raise the bar in high quality content to keep engaging more users," said Kalra.
If we look at the overall subscription market in India in the video OTT space, there has been a significant growth in the last one year.
In 2020, 29 million subscribers paid for 53 million OTT video subscriptions as against 11 million who paid for 21 million OTT video subscriptions in 2019, according to an EY 2021 report.
One of the key drivers that led to the increased demand for OTT subscriptions was the creation of around 1,200 hours of original content across films and episodic content.
This year, ZEE5 also offered the Salman Khan-starrer Radhe during Eid holiday, on May 13.
Experts had noted that it bought the rights for the film for around Rs 225 crore.
On ZEE5's content acquisition, Kapoor pointed out that "New subscribers join when they see that a platform is consistently coming out with new content. With two high-profile properties from two ends of the spectrum within two weeks, ZEE5 has definitely gained visibility in the SVOD (subscription video on-demand) space in India this month."
However, he added, "if Radhe would have done well, the gains in equity and new subscriptions would have been far higher."
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