Zee 5 has introduced Clips, an AI-powered vertical video feature aimed at altering how subscribers browse and discover titles across its entertainment library. The tool repurposes scenes from existing movies and series into short, swipeable segments, offering users quick previews designed to encourage transitions into full-length programming.
The Underlying Technology
Developed collaboratively by Zee 5 and Google Cloud, Clips automates the extraction and formatting of catalogue highlights. The workflow relies on several core machine learning systems:
- Gemini Pro and Deep Learning Models: Deployed to analyze video files and identify narrative peaks or high-engagement segments suitable for standalone viewing.
- Chirp Multi-Lingual Model: Handles speech recognition and linguistic analysis across various regional languages within Zee 5’s multi-dialect library.
- Google Cloud Vision API & Image Processing: Adjusts visual composition by cropping and reformatting horizontal source footage into a vertical aspect ratio optimized for mobile viewing.
By automating video segmentation and reformatting, the platform generates preview assets at scale without requiring extensive manual editing workflows.
Impact on User Journey and Content Sampling
Rather than operating as a standalone short-form ecosystem, Clips functions primarily as an interactive index for Zee 5’s broader catalogue. When viewing a vertical excerpt, users can navigate directly to the full movie or series episode from the playback screen.
According to initial platform data, viewers are actively utilizing these preview snippets to initiate longer viewing sessions. This shift suggests that short-form vertical feeds can serve as practical navigation layers for streaming services, reducing the reliance on static carousels and traditional trailers in favor of dynamic, scene-based sampling.
Tejkarran Singh Bajaj, Business Head – Zee 5 India and AI & Innovation, said:
At Zee 5, we are looking at content consumption differently, and Clips is a direct reflection of that. Developed in collaboration with Google Cloud, it puts the most compelling moments from our long form catalogue right into the swipe journey, giving audiences a quick way to find something that catches their attention. What makes this particularly exciting is the ability to turn thousands of hours of existing content into fresh entry points, at scale, using AI. The early traction shows us that when technology is applied with a clear understanding of how people consume content today, it can fundamentally change the way audiences find their next watch.
Pramod Prakash, Chief Technology Officer, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., said:
Clips was built around a simple audience need: making it easier for viewers to discover stories they may not have actively searched for. We are using AI to identify engaging moments within our long-form content and automatically transform them into short, vertical videos, creating a new and more intuitive way to enter the Zee 5 catalogue. The solution brings together the Gemini AI, Speech-to-Text and Cloud Vision API to process and package content at scale. Strategically, it gives us more ways to bring audiences from a moment of discovery into the full story.
Amit Kumar, Managing Director, Digital Natives Business at Google Cloud India, said:
Our collaboration with Zee 5 on Clips is a great example of our deep partnership and it demonstrates how generative AI can drive measurable business value at scale. By leveraging Google Cloud’s advanced Gemini models, these joint AI innovations accelerate time-to-market for new platform features while continuously elevating the daily viewer experience.