MUMBAI: The High Definition (HD) feed is clearly a value added proposition. With five popular HD channels under its umbrella namely - Zee TV HD, &Pics HD, Zee cinema HD, Zee Studio HD and Ten Sports HD - Zee has launched the network’s new brand identity- Zee HD League bouquet.

The bouquet will have Hollywood and Bollywood blockbusters as well as sports action. It will also include HD content that will exclusively premiere on the bouquet and not on the SD feed.

To begin with Zee TV HD will showcase the World television premiere of the critically acclaimed and award-winning movie The Lunchbox on 8 February. The move, according to a source, is to make the trade as well as the consumer segment aware of the HD offerings by the stable.

Speaking on the launch, ZEEL chief business officer Sunil Buch said, “With close to 40 per cent increase in the sales of flat-panel TVs coupled with an aggressive push by DTH and digital cable players, HD channels continue to gain consumer traction. The bouquet is aimed at giving an enriched viewing experience to the affluential viewers.”

Buch further said that the network will follow a two pronged approach for the same. Firstly, by adding width in terms of new HD channels and secondly by looking at HD exclusive offerings from each of the channels. The pricing will differ from platform to platform.

When queried as to how he views the pattern for HD consumption in India, Sun Direct managing director Mahesh Kumar said, “Incrementally HD feed is becoming more and more attractive because an increasing number of subscribers consume HD. Not a game changer as yet, but we foresee in the next one or two years the HD consumption going up.”

On the other hand, Dish TV chief operating officer Salil Kapoor finds the strategy beneficial for the feed as its overall consumption is picking up. “We have the highest number of HD channels - i.e 39 now and are happy with the focus turning to HD,” he added.

A 360 degree marketing campaign across affluential touch-points such as airports and multiplexes along with special emphasis on digital is being rolled out to promote ZEEL’s new bouquet. ZEEL chief sales officer Ashish Sehgal informed that this was an opportunity for advertisers to sharply target the elusive affluent audience segment.

“HD subscribers have a high skew towards the premium 25+, SEC AB in six metros and are growing at a whopping 50 per cent per annum. By adopting a network approach, we will further strengthen our monetisation strategy by offering advertisers a suite of advertising options across multiple genres,” he concludes.