ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sling TV and DISH today announced a long-term renewal agreement with Asia TV USA, Ltd., part of the “Zee” group from India and a leading provider of South Asian programming. In addition to renewing the 10 Zee-branded channels already offered on Sling TV and DISH, the new agreement includes the addition of 27 new Zee channels such as &TV, Living Foodz, Zee Bangla, Zee Tamizh and Zee Cinema HD.
As part of the agreement, Sling TV and DISH will be the exclusive providers in the U.S. of Zee’s premium on-demand library, which includes movies and over 400 additional popular video titles. Over time, Sling TV will become the exclusive over-the-top (OTT) provider in the U.S. for all but one of Zee’s South Asian channels. In the coming months, Zee will transition viewers from its direct-to-consumer services to Sling TV or to authenticated access only.
“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 vice president 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, 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.”
To broaden the options available to fans of South Asian content, Sling TV and DISH are launching a new “Hindi Gold Pack,” which will contain all of the Zee Hindi channels, plus other leading Hindi channels. In addition, &TV, one of the most requested Hindi channels by current Sling TV and DISH customers, will be added to the existing lineup. Zee’s on-demand content will be available at no additional charge to DISH and Sling TV subscribers with the Hindi Gold Pack.
As part of the agreement, DISH and Sling TV will also add two Spanish-language channels, Z Living Español and Zee TV Español, and two Brazilian channels, Zee TV Portuguese and Z Living Portuguese, to their respective line-ups. The new Spanish channels can be found on DISH in the DishLATINO Clasico, DishLATINO Dos, DishLATINO Plus and DishLATINO Max packages, and the Best of Spanish TV package on Sling Latino.
Zee Alwan and Zee Aflam, two popular Arabic channels, will also launch in the DISH Arabic Super Elite and the Arabic Mosaic Pack on Sling TV.
More information on Sling TV’s international packages can be found here, and information on Sling Latino packages can be found here. Details of DISH’s packages can be found here.
About Zee:
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited is one of India's leading television, media and entertainment companies. It is a pioneer of the television entertainment industry in India and amongst the largest producers and aggregators of Hindi programming in the world. Through its strong presence worldwide, ZEEL entertains over 1 billion viewers across 172 countries.
About Sling TV
Sling TV L.L.C., a subsidiary of DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH), provides over-the-top television services, including domestic and international live and on-demand programming. It is available on televisions, tablets, computers, smartphones and other streaming devices. Sling TV offers two streaming services, which collectively include programming content from Disney/ESPN (single-stream service only), Fox (multi-stream service only), HBO, AMC, A&E, Turner, Scripps, EPIX and Univision. Sling Latino offers a suite of standalone and add-on Spanish-language programming packages tailored to English-dominant, bilingual and Spanish-dominant U.S. households. Sling International currently provides more than 250 channels in 20 languages across multiple devices to U.S. households. Sling TV is a next-generation service that meets the entertainment needs of today’s contemporary viewers. Visit www.Sling.com.
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About DISH
DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), through its subsidiaries, provides approximately 13.874 million pay-TV subscribers, as of March 31, 2016, with the highest-quality programming and technology with the most choices at the best value. DISH offers a high definition line-up with more than 200 national HD channels, the most international channels and award-winning HD and DVR technology. DISH Network Corporation is a Fortune 250 company. Visit www.dish.com.
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