Sling TV, owned and operated by Dish Network Corp have renewed their carriage deal with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, for ten branded channels, and signed a new agreement to add a further 27 services from the Indian media giant in an effort to reach a wider South Asian audience in the US.
The 27 additional channels, among them include &TV, Living Foodz, Zee Bangla, Zee Tamizh and Zee Cinema HD, will be added to the Sling TV line-up. Nine of the 27 will also join DISH.
In addition, Sling TV and DISH become the exclusive providers in the U.S. of Zee’s premium on-demand library. Over time, Sling TV will also become the exclusive OTT provider for all but one of Zee’s South Asian channels. The deal sees Zee moving away from the direct-to-consumer OTT offering it has been operating in the US. Zee is expected to transition viewers from its direct-to-consumer services to Sling TV in coming months.
“Our agreement with Zee enables us to provide a vast amount of entertainment to fans of South Asian content, while also giving customers a more streamlined way to access and enjoy both linear and on-demand content,” said Chris Kuelling, senior VP of programming for Sling TV and DISH. “Zee shares our goal of growing the South Asian market, and together we are able to better serve this community, as well as the other language groups served by Zee.”
“DISH has been a natural partner and ally for the last 18 years, and Sling TV is by far the most comprehensive OTT service available to our target audience,” said Sameer Targe, business head at Zee Americas. “The U.S. is a mature pay-TV market and operating a direct-to-consumer business can be a low or negative margin initiative, so it made good business sense to align our growth strategy by expanding our offerings and partnering with Sling TV as our chosen OTT platform.”
