Parul Goel – ZEE UK/Europe Head talks at The Future of Media conference
Parul Goel, Territory Head and CFO of ZEE UK, Europe and Americas, was invited as a speaker at The Future of Media conference held in Central London on 11-12 October 2023.
He was joined on the panel by Nathalie Lethbridge, the Chair of Atonik Digital, to discuss FAST, the emerging platform for broadcasters to reach new audiences.
ZEE, which itself has invested heavily into FAST services in the UK, recently launched Zest, Zing, Punjabi, ZEE World, ZEE ONE, via Freeview. In his response to FAST, Goel said, “We are treating FAST technology as another platform to serve communities which are less able to receive the entertainment and use the illegal means to access content.
“ZEE has become the pioneer in the UK and Europe for Indian entertainment to reach millions of HHs through various FAST platforms. ZEE has clear advantage to use FAST to connect with under-served audiences across the region, by dubbing and subtitling etc and make it more localised. Though monetisation will not be easy across all regions but altogether it’s a best foot forward for business growth.”
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He spoke in length also about the content, technology and challenges faced by the team during the journey of FAST. He added, “Everything was happening in parallel during last one year. Content selection, curation, tech partners discussions, delivery, platform negotiations, market potential, viewership, whether it’s sustainable after 2-3 years.
“We ensured that the monetisation started from day one, which actually happened. The reason for choosing these channels – Zest, Zing, Punjabi, Zee World, ZEE ONE, were to offer a variety of content to FAST audience and not a repeat of what we are already doing and without comprising even a single bit with our premium channel pay offerings.”
He concluded by saying, “FAST is also a great marketing tool for us to promote premium products. By this launch, we have been able to become the largest Indian broadcaster in the UK and Europe and the journey from here is upwards from FAST point, and you will see many more collaborations and partnerships going forward.”
