The great differential of the new pay TV channel, Zee Mundo, that entered US Hispanic and will soon do the same in Latin America, is that it offers Bollywood productions that have never been seen in this region, and they are entirely dubbed into Spanish.
“We have been preparing this launching for a year and a half, dubbing the content originated in India. Bollywood produces three times more content than Hollywood, with the same quality,” explained Javier López Casella, general manager of Zee Mundo / Zee Entertainment.
Although the initial launching was on DishLATINO in the US, a universe of 2 million subscribers, the intention is to introduce the channel in Latin America before the end of the year. “The plans are 100% distribution in Latin America. I just returned from a tour throughout Latin America. Speaking with the main clients, I realized they already know Bollywood and give this content great importance, all of them are very interested in this distribution so we forecast that we will soon launch with them on their traditional pay TV networks as well as OTT.”
He added that since Dish is one of the operators with greatest distribution –not only in the general market but in the Latino market as well– “for us this launching is very important, because it will give the channel great visibility.”
This negotiation with Dish includes the launching on Sling TV. “Today we are one of the few pay TV channels that has 100% of the rights to air everything on TV everywhere,” mentioned Casella.
Zee Mundo also handles advertising sales. “We have had advertising since the first day. This is an important and difficult achievement for a new channel.”
“The official launching of the channel will be during the 14th Annual Hispanic Television Summit, that is the most important event for the distribution of content in Spanish. We will offer a cocktail party, and inviting advertising agencies, because we are emphasizing everything related with advertising,” he expressed.