Zee Cafe pushes for perception branding

MUMBAI: Zee Cafe is making an on air push for channel perception branding. The English genneral entertainment channel said next month is when viewers will "Get High" on the channel.

To spark off Diwali, five new shows are launching - Vampire Diaries - Season 2, Better With You, Weeds, Rizzoli and Isles and Keeping up with the Kardashians.

Next month will culminate in Billboards Music Awards 2011, which is being brought to India for the first time by the channel.

Zee Caf? kicks off the second season of ?Vampire Diaries? on 3 October. This airs Monday-Friday at 10 pm. Based on the novel series penned by L.J. Smith, the series follows the events in the town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, a fictional small town haunted by supernatural beings.

The main focus of the series is the love triangle between the
female protagonist Elena Gilbert and the vampire brothers Stefan and Damon with dark pasts. The season picks up immediately after the events of the season one finale. The second season focusses on the return of Elena?s doppelganger, Katherine, the Sun and Moon curse, and the arrival of Klaus.

On the comedy side, the channel will launch Better with You from 19 October. It will air Monday-Friday at 11 pm. The romantic sitcom revolves around three different relationships that are tightly intertwined in one family.

In order to fulfill its brand promise of Get High, the channel aims to spice up the weekend with the quirky show, ?Weeds?. Kicking off on 8 October, it will air Saturday-Sunday at 10 pm. This single camera dark comedy explores a widowed mother and her family as they take to selling marijuana to support themselves.

During the course of the show, the family progressively gets entangled in a mesh of illegal activities. The show takes a sarcastic view of how off-colour characters struggle with fake suburban reality, in which everything is "all style, no substance".

Before that the channel will have the drama ?Rizzoli and Isles? from 1 October. It will air Saturday-Sunday at 9 pm. stars The one-hour drama is based on the ?Rizzoli and Isles? series of novels by Tess Gerritsen.

On the reality front, the channel will showcase two shows of Keeping up with the Kardashians, including Kourtney and Khloe take Miami which airs Monday - Friday at 9 pm. The shows profile one of Hollywood?s most high profile families as its members seek fame, fortune and domestic bliss.

The Billboard Music Awards is being brought to India for the first time by Zee Caf?.. The 2011 edition will kick off with a bang, as pop stars like Rihanna, Britney Spears and the Black Eyed Peas rocked the stage at Las Vegas? MGM Grand, while Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Taio Cruz and Lady Antebellum snagged the first awards of the night. Other performers taking the stage during the Billboard Music Awards included Beyonce,Nicki Minaj, Far East Movement, Mary J Blige and Lil Wayne.

Zee Caf? business head Anurag Bedi aid, "It?s time to Get High!!! Zee Caf? gives a golden opportunity to its viewers to go high by experiencing all genre of entertainment whether it?s romantic comedy or supernatural drama or the raunchy series of Kardashians and many more to add. This October, Zee Caf? has lots in its store for its viewers. We are getting more aggressive as far as content is concerned. We?ve always dared to experiment with our content to give our viewers an experience never felt before. October 2011 we would be showcasing five new shows that would encompass different genre of entertainment, giving our viewers a holistic entertainment package."