Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. has entered into a content licensing partnership with mobile-first platform Story TV, marking a strategic push to monetise legacy television IP in short-form, vertical formats.

Under the agreement, Story TV will stream adapted versions of several Zee titles, including Agent Raghav: Crime Branch, Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo, Santoshi Maa and Fear Files. The shows span crime, family drama, spiritual and horror genres and will be reformatted into micro-episodes tailored for smartphone viewing.

Commenting on the collaboration, Saurabh Pandey, Founder and CEO of Story TV, said the platform aims to “reimagine iconic shows for the smartphone-first era,” reflecting what he described as a structural shift in how stories are consumed. Vinod Johri, Business Head – Syndication at Zee, noted that “multi-platform reach is more important than ever” as audience behaviour fragments across devices.

Vertical video’s emerging business case

The move comes amid rising investor and industry interest in vertical storytelling platforms, which are positioning themselves as the next layer of India’s digital video consumption. According to Redseer, the country’s interactive media market could expand to $3.1–3.4 billion by FY30, driven largely by high-engagement, short-format content.

For Zee, the partnership represents a syndication-led strategy to extend the shelf life of its television library while accessing younger, mobile-native audiences without incremental production risk. Repurposing existing IP into short-form edits lowers content costs and creates additional revenue streams beyond traditional broadcast and OTT distribution.

Monetisation will be the real test

For Story TV, launched in 2025 by the Eloelo Group, the deal adds established intellectual property to a catalogue that already features over 1,000 microdrama titles. The platform claims a user base of over 50 million, with reported average session times exceeding an hour — metrics that signal sticky engagement but will ultimately need monetisation at scale.

Industry experts reckon that the collaboration underscores a broader structural shift in India’s entertainment ecosystem: as attention fragments across devices, established broadcasters are increasingly partnering with digital-native platforms rather than competing with them.