In October DreamDTH had shared that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) had paved the way for the launch of Zee Thirai by renaming Zee Entertainment’s Zee Malayalam license to Zee Thirai. Yesterday, we covered Zee Thirai’s announcement on its social media handles and now we have a confirmation about the launch with the broadcaster releasing a newer version of its Reference Interconnect Offer (RIO) which carries Zee Thirai.
| Name of the Channel | Genre | Language | MRP | A-la-carte code |
| Zee Thirai | Movie | Genre | ₹ 3 | ZSD-ZMPCG02 |
Zee Thirai will be available to a-la-carte subscribers at a monthly rate of Rs 3. The channel will be available in around 30+ bouquets which mainly cater to the Tamil market.
Zee Prime Pack Tamil SD, Zee Super Pack Tamil SD, Zee Family Pack Tamil SD, Zee All-In-One Pack Tamil SD, Zee Prime Pack Tamil-Telugu SD, Zee Super Pack Tamil-Telugu SD, Zee Family Pack Tamil-Telugu SD, Zee Prime Pack Tamil-Kannada SD, Zee Super Pack Tamil-Kannada SD, Zee Family Pack Tamil-Kannada SD, Zee All-In-One Pack Tamil-Kannada SD, Zee Prime Pack All South SD, Zee Super Pack All South SD, Zee Family Pack All South SD, Zee All-In-One Pack All South SD, Zee Prime Pack Tamil HD, Zee Super Pack Tamil HD, Zee Family Pack Tamil HD, Zee All-in-One Pack Tamil HD, Zee Prime Pack Tamil-Telugu HD, Zee Super Pack Tamil-Telugu HD, Zee Family Pack Tamil-Telugu HD, Zee All-in-One Pack Tamil-Telugu HD, Zee Prime Pack Tamil-Kannada HD, Zee Super Pack Tamil-Kannada HD, Zee Family Pack Tamil-Kannada HD, Zee All-in-One Pack Tamil-Kannada HD, Zee Prime Pack All South HD, Zee Super Pack All South HD, Zee Family Pack All South HD, and Zee All-in-One Pack All South HD will carry Zee Thirai.
The LCN parameter for DPOs to avail incentives has been set as 1 to 3 in Slab 1 and 4 to 6 in Slab 2 for Zee Thirai and is to be placed among its competing channels KTV, Star Vijay Super, J Movies, Raj Digital Plus, Mega 24 and similar channels.
It is the 12th version of ZEEL’s RIO ever since the new regulations came in. The channel is likely to launch officially after the new RIO kicks into effect on 12 January as the new regulations mandate that any change needs to be informed 30 days before to the regulator.
ZEEL Managing Director and CEO Punit Goenka during 2QFY20 Earnings Call had commented upon ZEEL’s regional expansion,
“We are on track for the launch of new regional channels in line with our annual plans.”
2QFY20 Earnings Call Edited Transcript
The launch is likely to happen in January with the official launch date likely to be made public on Zee Cine Awards Tamil 2020 which is scheduled to take place on January 4, 2020.
