Abu Dhabi: Emasala Simply South, the first ever trilingual movie channel, will premier across the UAE at 12 pm on 30 September 2022. The channel is owned and operated by evision, the media & entertainment arm of e& life.

Through evision’s partnership with Simply South, the largest online streaming platform with exclusively South Indian content, an exclusive channel will be launched, showcasing the best and latest movies in three languages - Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu - as early as 4 weeks from the theatrical release.

The launch of Emasala Simply South comes at a time when the popularity of South Indian films is at an all-time high, owing to their realistic storytelling and relatable star cast. With the launch of Emasala Simply South, evision aims to make the channel the new home of South Indian movies. Emasala Simply South comes as a great compliment to Emasala flagship channel (CH NO 666), which focuses more on Hindi movies.

Olivier Bramly, CEO of evision, said: “evision is all about bringing the best in entertainment to the region, and we are very proud to be launching this new South Indian channel catering to the huge appetite for Indian content with the large population from the subcontinent in the Middle East and UAE.

“Currently, a large subscriber base of eLife TV in the UAE is from the Indian subcontinent, and the vast majority of those are from the South of India, mainly watching Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada content. The partnership with Simply South will give our viewers a flavour of the best and latest content from the greatest in the film industry. This is in line with our commitment to elevating the customer experience so that our viewers have the best content to watch anytime and anywhere.”

Anish Wadhwa, Founder of Simply South, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with evision and bring unparalleled entertainment to the Indian diaspora. With its colossal offering of the latest films, we are confident that Emasala Simply South will revolutionise the at-home movie watching experience for all its viewers.”

The channel will focus on Tamil movies five days a week, with Malayalam on Saturdays and Telugu on Tuesdays. Emasala Simply South will be part of evision’s fully owned channel portfolio, which currently includes emasala, Criclife 1, Criclife 2, CricLife Max and ejunior.

Emasala Simply South is available on Channel 667 on eLife TV. Simply South is also available as a branded SVOD offering on eLife and Switch TV.

Etisalat Group has changed its brand identity to e&, effective from 23 February 2022. Its strategy aims to accelerate growth through the creation of a resilient business model representing the Group’s main business pillars. The telecoms business currently continues to be led by etisalat by e& in e&’s home market and by existing subsidiaries for e& international, upholding the Group’s rich telecoms heritage, bolstering the strong telecoms network and maximising value for the Group’s various customer segments. Ramping up the digital services for individual customers to elevate their digital-first lifestyle, e& life brings next-generation technologies through smart connectivity platforms in entertainment, retail and financial technology. To enable the digital transformation of governments, large-scale enterprises and corporates, e& enterprise focuses on maximising value through its end-to-end solutions in cybersecurity, cloud, Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), as well as deploying mega projects. e& capital allows the Group to focus its efforts on driving new mergers and acquisitions while maximising shareholder value and strengthening global presence.

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About evision, from e&

Established in 1999, evision, the media & entertainment division of e& life (a business pillar of e&), is the largest and most trusted content aggregator in the MENAP region, with flagship entertainment services such as eLife, Switch TV, Misr TV and Mobily TV.

As a pioneer in home entertainment via IPTV and streaming services in the region, evision provides a comprehensive turnkey solution for content aggregation and content management for IPTV platforms, OTT, mobile,. in all forms of entertainment across the MENAP region.

evision recently signed a binding agreement along with ADQ, an Abu Dhabi-based investment and holding company, to own a majority equity stake in STARZPLAY ARABIA, a leading video streaming service provider in the region.

With over 20 years of collaboration with Hollywood studios, independent studios, and regional content suppliers, evision delivers more than 600 TV channels and 17,000+ hours of on-demand content across several languages..

evision also operates original and exclusive in-house channels such as ejunior, the most watched kids channel in the UAE, emasala, a 24-hour non-stop south Asian movie channel and CricLife channels, 24-hour HD channels dedicated to be the Home of Cricket for MENA with LIVE broadcast rights of major international cricket events.

evision is part of e& life, the business pillar of e& that enhances customer delight by bringing next-generation technologies, and apps in entertainment, retail, mobility services and financial technology.

To learn more about evision, please visit http://evision.ae/.

About Simply South

Simply South, an over-the-top (OTT) streaming platform with exclusively South Indian content, was rolled out in February 2019. The first-of-its-kind, this Dubai-based video streaming company has tapped into the Indian diaspora across the world.

Simply South boasts of a colossal library, with over 1700+ Tamil, Malayalam, and Telugu movies, clips and songs to choose from.

The platform, available across the world except India, has acquired customers across 25+ countries since it’s roll out. As of September 2022, the platform boasts of not just the biggest blockbusters, such as Vikram, Kaithi, Master, Kaala, Bigil, Darbar, Oh My Kadavule but also rare-to-find classics such as Parasakthi, Alaipayuthey, and Jeans, among others.

Users can stream movies at their comfort on any web browser at www.simplysouth.tv or by using the app ‘Simply South’ which is compatible on the following devices: Android and iOS Mobile, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon FireStick, Amazon FireTV and Chromecast.

To learn more about Simply South, please visit www.simplysouth.tv