MUMBAI: Come 13 September and the action of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) will expand its viewership platform. The sport, which is currently broadcast on Ten Sports, will also be aired on Hindi movie channel Zee Cinema. The channel will telecast WWE in Hindi from 7 - 9 pm.

WWE is one of the top rated shows in the sports genre, according to the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India report. “Zee Cinema wanted to do something new and thus decided to air WWE on the channel,” said a source close to the development.

Zee Cinema, which as per the BARC India week 33 ratings data, is at the second position in the movie channel space, is looking at getting new audience on to the channel by airing WWE.

“Action entertainment is the preferred genre on the channel and thus the decision to telecast WWE, which will be a fresh breather from the movies,” added the source.

According to the channel, WWE is still a niche property, which is broadcast on sports channels and is mostly in English. “We are hoping to make it a more mass sport and thus bringing it on Hindi movie channel and with Hindi commentary,” informed the source.

Christened Action Mania, the sport will be aired everyday for the first two weeks, starting 13 September. “After two weeks, the show will be aired once a week. It is a strategic decision taken by the conglomerate to take WWE to a new set of audience,” said another source from the sports channel.     

Airing popular sport properties on Hindi movie channels by networks is not new. Be it the Indian Premiere League (IPL) on Sony Max, or Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) on Star Gold, Hindi movie channels have gained traction for  sport properties. Whether airing WWE will take Zee Cinema from the current number two position to the numero uno remains to be seen.