Zee Café is an Indian pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The channel mainly syndicates popular American and British television shows to appeal to the English-speaking population of India.
History
Zee Café's logo used from 15 November 2010 to 19 June 2011Zee Café's logo used from 19 June 2011 to 18 October 2016Zee Café's logo used from 16 October 2016 to 15 October 2017
Zee English was launched in the Indian subcontinent on 15 March 2000, as competition to Star World. Initially free-to-air, the channel was later encrypted as part of the Zee pay-television bouquet.[4] The launch came when Zee TV started opting for digital signals to provide better signal clarity. It launched alongside Zee Movies; ZEEL had signed agreements with MGM, Pearson, Fremantle, Carlton and Passport International.[5]
The channel underwent a rebranding on 28 March 2005 and was renamed as Zee Café, along with a new logo and promotion deals.[6]
The channel's high-definition feed was launched on 23 September 2015, for a bench test in limited markets and nationwide on 21 November 2015.[7]
International distribution
Zee Café launched on Sky in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 15 July 2010. The channel originally served as the Zee's network hybrid channel, used to broadcast shows from a number of its existing channels in India.[8]
On 11 September 2012, it was repositioned as a classics channel, airing re-runs of old Zee TV programming, covering cookery, dramas, horror and mythology. At the same time the channel became free-to-air.[9]
On 10 June 2013, Zee Café UK was replaced by Zee Lamhe, another free-to-air classics channel from Zee.[10]
