Manish Kalra Expands ZEE5 Role; First Ukrainian FAST Channel; Zinc Buys Raw Cut – Global Briefs

Manish Kalra Expands ZEE5 Global Role

Manish Kalra, the Chief Business Officer of streamer ZEE5 Global, has expanded his role to oversee operations across global markets. He will spearhead strategic growth of ZEE5’s footprint, including in its home territory India, focusing on international engagement, partnerships and market expansion. Kalra has been with Zee Entertainment Enterprises-owened ZEE5 since 2020, and previously held senior roles at Amazon, MakeMyTrip, Dell and Craftsvilla. The streamer is available in more than 190 territories and offers content in 18 languages. It recently launched ZEE5 Global Add-Ones in the U.S., providing access to South Asian streamers such as Chaupal, Oho Gujarati, NammaFlix, Simply South and iStream.

First Ukrainian FAST Channel Launches

Ukrainian media outfit 1+1 Media has launched what it is calling the world’s first FAST channel from the nation. 1+1 News will feature docs about Ukraine, news reports and interviews. 1+1 Travel, meanwhile, brings together episodes of Ukrainian mainstay The World Inside Out, hosted by Dmytro Komarov, which travels around the world showing off fantastic traditions and rituals. The news channel will be partially dubbed or produced in English, while the latter is Spanish with an option to turn on English subtitles. “Difficult times encourage us to look for new solutions in interaction with the audience and platforms through which we can communicate with them,” said Oleksandr Remezovsky, Head of International Distribution at 1+1 Media. “Having a large amount of unique, high-quality content that is important for the world in the context of a full-scale invasion, we were looking for ways to distribute it to benefit both the company and the country.”

Zinc Buys Blue Light Expert Raw Cut

The UK’s Zinc Media Group has bought blue light production expert Raw Cut. Across two decades, Raw Cut has established a solid reputation for making the likes of Road Wars and Police interceptors, and it has produced more than 800 hours worth of factual shows, according to Zinc. Raw Cut also brings an international distribution division, based in London, while it has offices in both London and Cardiff, expanding Zinc’s footprint. Zinc also owns the likes of current affairs outfit Brook Lapping, factual maker Tern TV and specialist factual indie Atomic. CEO Mark Browning said: “We are thrilled to welcome Raw Cut to Zinc Media Group. Their expertise in ‘Blue Light’ and documentary programming aligns perfectly with our vision for world-class factual content.”