Mumbai: Zee Media Corp Ltd (ZMCL) has announced the launch of its OTT awards for the year 2021. The awards will be simulcast over 30 TV and digital platforms.
The award ceremony will be attended by the crème-de-la-crème of the entertainment industry, with an astute jury in various fields of entertainment along with the Zee Media management, said the media company in a statement.
“With the change in viewing habits and the increased consumption of content, we feel the Zee Media OTT awards will do justice to the content creators, actors, the teams behind building successful shows, to continue doing the same and bring out quality content for the viewers,” said ZMCL marketing head Anindya Khare. “The changing landscape around content asks for newer ways to showcase and gratify the efforts put into making the complete OTT ecosystem a success.”
The channel said that the categories will not be restricted to film and web series only and the focus will also be on alternative digital media content. Apart from the awards and on-stage entertainment, there will be panel discussions that will be livestreamed on digital platforms, allowing the viewers to ask questions to the panellists, making the whole viewing experience more immersive, it added.
“OTT is the next big thing for years to come as the entertainment industry witnesses a paradigm shift in the way content is consumed by the audience,” said Zee Media chief revenue officer Gaurav Verma. “To lead the way and become the pioneers in the award space, it gives us immense pleasure to bring these awards to the consumers, to gauge their level of interest and take the next steps from there. We are creating a new platform to showcase the best talent from the world of OTT.”
India is currently the world's fastest-growing OTT market and is all set to emerge as the world’s sixth-largest by 2024. There are currently about 40 providers of OTT media services in India, which distribute streaming media over the internet. Between March and November 2019, around 30 million internet users came online for the first time from rural areas, showing a steep growth in the consumer base for the OTT platforms, said the statement.
“It is important that we notice and act on the changing consumption trends of the viewers, consumers and advertisers in order to be present in all relevant spaces at the given time,” said Zee Media chief revenue officer Manoj Jagyasi. “New initiatives are always more lucrative for advertisers as they arrest the attention of the viewers. Zee Media OTT award, similarly, is a new and exciting proposition for our viewers which will be well accepted by them due to our unbiased approach to the awards.”
