Zee Entertainment is also set to expand its offerings in the Bhojpuri market with the launch of its upcoming Bhojpuri movie channel Ganga Biskope. The broadcaster yesterday has published a newer version of its Reference Interconnection Offer (RIO) which includes Ganga Biskope.
Ganga Biskope will be available to a-la-carte subscribers at a nominal rate of Rs 0.1. The channel will be available in only four bouquets namely Zee Family Pack Hindi SD, Zee All-In-One Pack Hindi SD, Zee Family Pack Hindi HD, and Zee All-In-One Pack Hindi HD. The LCN parameter for DPOs to avail incentives has been set as 1 to 2 in Slab 1 and 3 to 4 in Slab 2 for Ganga Biskope.
It is the 10th version of ZEEL’s RIO ever since the new regulations came in. The channel is likely to launch after the new RIO kicks into effect on 15 November as the new regulations mandate that any change needs to be informed 30 days before to the regulator. Ganga Biskope will compete with the likes of B4U Bhojpuri, Bhojpuri Cinema and Oscar Movies in the Bhojpuri market.
| Name of Channel | Genre | Language | A-la-Carte MRP | A-la-carte Channel Code |
| Ganga Biskope | Movies | Bhojpuri | 0.1 | ZSD-GNGAB01 |
| Bouquet Availability |
| Zee Family Pack Hindi SD |
| Zee All-In-One Pack Hindi SD |
| Zee Family Pack Hindi HD |
| Zee All-In-One Pack Hindi HD |
ZEEL was initially granted the license in December last year in the name of Zee Bhojpuri Cinema. However, it, later on, shelved the name and in March applied for the renaming of the license. The broadcaster opted to name its channel Ganga Biskope so as to continue with the Ganga branding for the Bhojpuri market. The broadcaster also seems to have shelved the plans to rename Big Ganga to Zee Ganga.
ZEEL CEO and MD Punit Goenka had in June said that “Our broadcast business offers 8 Hindi movie channels and 5 regional movie channels. We are now set to expand our regional movie business further and we intend to launch 3 new movie channels.”
ZEEL as part of its stated strategy has been aggressively building a sizable movie library across languages over the past couple of years. In addition to helping the existing channels improve their viewership share, it will help it launch movie channels in three regional markets including Bhojpuri during FY20. The broadcaster had earlier in July launched its Hindi HD premium movie offering &xplor HD. Zee Picchar and Zee Thirai are expected to launch later on in early 2020.
