Tag: Dr Subhash Chandra

Dr. Subhash Chandra shares his views on M&E industry

MUMBAI: The Essel Group and Zee chairman Dr Subhash Chandra shared his views about the Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry by giving a keynote at the Kotak Institutional Equities’ (KIE) Chasing Growth 2015 Forum.

Held on 9 February at Hotel Trident BCK, Mumbai, an hour-long session was a part of the ‘Millennium: Makers of India’ event, where he spoke on the topic – ‘Entertaining India’.

Addressing the audience, which comprised institutional investors from India and abroad, Chandra first spoke about the innovation-led swiftly evolving M&E industry. Citing examples of leading players like Google and Apple, he explained how tech companies are now moving towards entertainment.

He then detailed the journey of Zee from 1992 when it was illegal to run a private TV channel to its current position as a leading player in the M&E industry.

Chandra stated that media has played a crucial role in transforming India to Version 2.0. The growth till 2013 was 2.0 but now it has accelerated to 3.0 and is poised to grow even further.

He said, “We are confident that Bollywood is capable of entertaining Western minds. Through its recent launches like Zee Bioskop in Indonesia, Zee Nung in Thailand and Zee World in Africa, Zee is taking Bollywood to global audiences.”

Other notable speakers on Day one of the event included HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, Hindustan Unilever CEO and MD Sanjiv Mehta and Bharat Forge chairman and MD Baba Kalyani.

KIE’s Chasing Growth 2015 Forum is being held in Mumbai from 9-11 February, 2015. ‘Millennium: Makers of India’ is a part of this event and focuses exclusively on those Indians who have put India on the global map through economic and social empowerment.

February 10, 2015
Q3-2015: Siti Cable reports 26% y-o-y revenue growth; Cable segment grows 34%

BENGALURU: Essel group’s Subhash Chandra led Siti Cable Network Limited (Siti Cable) reported a 26.1 per cent rise in Total Income from Operations (TIO) to Rs 223.4 crore in Q3-2015 from Rs 177.3 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter and was almost flat (down 0.3 per cent) as compared to the Rs 223.8 crore in Q2-2015.

Revenue from Siti Cable’s Cable segment grew 34.3 per cent y-o-y in Q3-2015 to Rs 209.5 crore from Rs 156 crore in Q3-2015 and remained almost flat (reduced by 0.5 per cent) as compared to the Rs 210.6 crore in Q2-2015.

Revenue from Siti Cable’s broadband segment grew 61 per cent to Rs 7 crore in Q3-2015 from Rs 4.3 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year and grew 13 per cent from Rs 6.2 crore in Q2-2015.

The company’s EBIDTA in the current quarter grew 43.1 per cent to Rs 50.1 crore from Rs 35 crore in Q3-2014 and 9.4 per cent from Rs 45.8 crore in Q2-2015.

Subscription numbers

The company’s cable subscription universe grew to 1.05 crore in the current quarter from 1 crore in the previous quarter. Digital subscription base grew to 0.485 crore in Q3-2015 from 0.46 crore in Q2-2015. Siti Cable added 3 lakh digital subscribers in Q3-2015 as compared to the 2.5 lakh digital subscribers in Q2-2015. It reported 54000 subscribers in Q3-2015 as compared to the 48000 subscribers in Q2-2015.

“Siti Cable Network is fully geared to provide the benefits of digitization to the Indian subscriber. The company continues to provide leadership in the areas of best practices, systems implementation and compliances. Although some minor challenges remain, the company is leading the industry on a new and evolved growth trajectory,” said Siti Cable chairman Dr. Subhash Chandra.

“Siti Cable maintained its growth momentum in the third quarter as well while improving EBITDA Margin from 20.5 percent to 22.4 percent q-o-q. Last mile operators have realized that digitization is a reality now. We see less resistance towards digitization from the LCOs in phase 3 and 4 towns. In fact they see digital cable STB as an opportunity towards offering more channels, better services to their consumers and realising better revenues from their existing customer base. It also helps them in retaining their customer, who would otherwise move to competing technology like DTH for want of better quality services”, said Siti Cable executive director and CEO said V D Wadhwa.

February 4, 2015
Zee launches Zee World in South Africa

MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) has launched a new general entertainment channel – Zee World – in South Africa. The channel was unveiled at an event in Johannesburg and is the first offering from ZEEL for mainstream viewers in Africa.

Zee World is a customised channel for mainstream audiences in Africa and will be available from 3 February on DSTV Premium, Extra, Compact and Family pack in South Africa and the Access pack within the rest of Africa. It will also be available on the Multichoice Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) GO TV platform.

Essel Group and Zeel chairman Dr Subhash Chandra said, “The corporate positioning of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ meaning ‘The world is my family’ is the driving force that enables us to bring authentic and entertaining content to global audiences, with a vision to reach a billion viewers by 2020.”

Zeel Middle East and Africa CEO Mukund Cairae said that the channel will launch with four series namely Saloni, Laali, Married Again, and The Promise. It will also introduce other genres such as world drama series and shows on kids, food, reality and health before the end of the year.

The channel will showcase content that will connect with the masses – from television series to Bollywood movies, from reality shows to action packed content. All content that will be aired has undergone extensive research and customization including editing and dubbing with most of the channel’s content dubbed in South Africa using local talent.

January 28, 2015
Dr. Subhash Chandra to share his entrepreneurial secrets!

MUMBAI: Essel Group and ZEE chairman Dr. Subhash Chandra will commence his New Year by hosting a special episode dedicated to his favourite topic, ‘Entrepreneurship’ on Zee Media Corporation’s flagship show, Dr. Subhash Chandra (DSC) Show.

Dr. Chandra will address over 200 budding and established entrepreneurs as well as Management students from Mumbai’s premier management institute, Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research on 3 January 2015 at Welingkar Institute.

Speaking on the upcoming episode, Dr. Chandra said, “Entrepreneurship has been an integral part of my life for more than four decades. Over time, I have learnt that it is only through persistence that an idea will bloom into reality. I wish to share with these passionate entrepreneurs as well as with the motivated management students some of the entrepreneurial secrets and success mantras that I have obtained while setting up and running diverse businesses within the Essel Group.”

Dr. Subhash Chandra (DSC) Show is aired every Saturday at 10 pm on Zee News and 7pm on Zee Business and on Sundays at 11 am on both Zee News & Zee Business. This show is also aired on other channels of Zee Media.

Dr. Chandra is rightly referred to as the Media Moghul of India. With his pioneering vision and entrepreneurial mindset to achieve growth, he revolutionized the television industry by launching the country's first satellite television channel – Zee TV in 1992 and later the first private news channel, Zee News. Dr. Chandra started the Essel Group which is among India's most prominent business houses with a diverse portfolio of assets in media, packaging, entertainment, technology-enabled services, infrastructure development and education.

Dr. Subhash Chandra Show Timings:

Learn how to innovate, set up and make your business flourish from the expert himself, a man of a thousand ideas, Dr. Subhash Chandra. Don’t miss the Dr. Subhash Chandra Show for an enterprising and entertaining weekend!

January 2, 2015