Tag: Essel Group

Zee Media ad revenue up in Q3-17

BENGALURU: The Essel Group’s news network Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL) reported 10.6 per cent year-over-year (y-o-y) growth in advertisement revenue for the quarter ended 31 December 2016 (Q3-17, current quarter) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter Q3-16. ZMCL’s ad revenue in the current quarter was Rs 114.43 crore (84.2 percent of Total Income from Operations or TIO) as compared to Rs 103.46 crore (82 percent of TIO) in Q3-16. Quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q), ad revenue in the current quarter increased 16.5 per cent from Rs 98.24 crore (77.9 percent of TIO).

TIO in Q3-17 declined 5.9 percent y-o-y to Rs 135.93 crore from Rs 144.47 crore for the corresponding year ago quarter. Q-o-q, ZMCL’s TIO increased 7.7 percent from Rs 126.25 crore.

Revenue breakup

Advertising revenue from ZMCL’s existing channels increased 15.8 percent y-o-y in Q3-17 to Rs 89.90 crore from Rs 85.23 crore. Advertising revenue from new channels increased 9.7 percent y-o-y in Q3-17 to Rs 8.35 crore from Rs 7.61 crore

Since 1 June, 2016, the company’s flagship channel Zee News became free-to-air (FTA). Subscription revenue, which came in only from the existing channels in the current quarter declined 66.8 percent y-o-y to Rs 9.27 crore from Rs 27.89 crore.

Other revenues for existing channels declined 26.1 percent y-o-y to Rs 2.44 crore from Rs 3.30 crore.

Business Revenue breakup

Revenue from ZMCL’s Television Broadcasting Business (TV Business) declined 5.6 percent y-o-y in Q3-17 at Rs 109.96 crore as compared to Rs 116.45 crore. The TV Business reported 7.2 percent y-o-y increase in operating profit at Rs 13.07 crore in Q3-17 as compared to Rs 12.19 crore.

Revenue from ZMCL’s print business declined 13.6 percent y-o-y to Rs 26.88 crore vis-à-vis Rs 31.11 crore. The print business reported more than tenfold increase in y-o-y operating loss at Rs 15.47 crore as compared to Rs 1.41 crore..

Let us look at the other numbers reported by ZMCL

ZMCL reported a higher y-o-y loss of Rs 6.22 crore in the current quarter as compared to a loss of Rs 0.77 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter, but almost a third of the loss of Rs 18.04 crore in the immediate trailing quarter. In may be noted that ZMCL has incurred an exceptional loss of Rs 18.88 crore due to sale of land and buildings of a subsidiary in the previous quarter.

Simple EBIDTA in Q3-17 declined to less than a third (declined 70.7 percent) to Rs 6.31 crore (4.6 percent margin) from Rs 21.54 crore (14.9 percent margin) and declined 64.1 percent q-o-q from Rs 18 crore (14.3 percent margin).

The company’s total expenditure in Q3-17 increased 4 percent y-o-y to Rs 139.79 crore (102.8 percent of TIO) as compared to Rs 134.35 crore (93 percent of TIO) and was 18.3 percent higher q-o-q as compared to Rs 118.22 crore (93.7 percent of TIO).

Cost of Raw materials consumed in the current quarter increased 31.3 percent y-o-y to Rs 13.61 crore (10 percent of TIO) as compared to Rs 10.37 crore (7.2 percent of TIO) and was 31.8 percent more q-o-q than Rs 10.32 crore (8.2 percent of TIO).

Employee Benefits Expenses in the current quarter declined 16.1 percent y-o-y to Rs 31.48 crore (23.2 percent of TIO) from Rs 37.52 crore (26 percent of TIO) and was 3.4 percent higher q-o-q than the Rs 30.45 crore (24.1 percent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter.

ZMCL’s Marketing, Distribution and Business Promotion Expenses (Marketing expenses) in the current quarter declined 33.9 percent y-o-y to Rs 16.78 crore (12.3 percent of TIO) from Rs 25.40 crore (17.6 percent of TIO) and increased 24.2 percent q-o-q from Rs 13.52 crore (10.7 percent of TIO).

Operational costs in Q3-17 increased 1.3 percent y-o-y to Rs 22.86 crore (16.8 percent of TIO) from Rs 22.57 crore (17.9 percent of TIO) and declined 2.9 percent q-o-q from Rs 23.55 crore (18.7 percent of TIO).

Other expense in Q3-17 increased 65.6 percent y-o-y to Rs 44.88 crore (33 percent of TIO) from Rs 27.11 crore (18.8 percent of TIO) and increased 48.1 percent q-o-q from Rs 30.31 crore (24 percent of TIO).

Finance costs in the current quarter increased 19.1 percent y-o-y to Rs 12.36 crore (9.1 percent of TIO) from Rs 10.37 crore (7.2 percent of TIO) and was almost flat (declined by 0.1 percent) q-o-q from Rs 12.37 crore (9.8 percent of TIO).

Note: The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR). The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:
(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.
(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

February 6, 2017
The growth of DTH in India

MUMBAI: Dish TV, Videocon d2h and FreeDish. These were the three names that dominated India’s DTH sector headlines in 2016. The Essel Group’s Dish TV India is likely to forge the mother of a merger, (if permitted by shareholders and government departments) with another fast-growing rival — the Dhoot family led Videocon d2h even after denying it throughout the year.

Further Vidoecon d2h was the second player in the Indian television carriage ecosystem that reported a net profit after tax or PAT– this was for the quarter ended 30 September 2016 or Q2-17. The other player that had started reporting PAT much earlier was Dish TV.

And, the public broadcaster Prasar Bharti-owned FreeDish increased its capacity allowing the number of channels to grow from 80 to 120 to reach India’s hinterlands and hence generate larger subscription numbers.

As per the last available exact data from a government website, the total number of active DTH subscribers in India was 55,981,376 as on 31 December 2015. The number of active DTH subscribers of Airtel was 11,343,424 with a market share of 20.26 per cent of the total number of active DTH subscribers in the entire country; the number of active DTH subscribers of Dish TV was 13,952,866 with a market share of 24.92 per cent of the total number of active DTH subscribers in the entire country. Among all the pay DTH Operators in India, Dish TV had the largest number of DTH subscribers as on 31 December 2015 and was the market leader.

The number of active DTH subscribers of Reliance was 1,786,705 as on 31 December 2015 and its market share was 3.19 per cent of the total number of active DTH subscribers in the country. Among all the DTH Operators in India, Reliance had the smallest number of DTH subscribers.

The number of active DTH subscribers of Sun Direct was 5,698,544 as on 31 December 2015 and Sun direct had a market share of 10.18 per cent; the number of active DTH subscribers of Tata Sky was 12,045,410 which had a market share of Tat Sky was 21.52 per cent; the number of active DTH subscribers of Videocon D2H was 11,154,427 and its market share was 19.93 per cent of the total number of active DTH subscribers in India

With rise in disposable income and increasing number of digital pay-TV households, India is the most compelling market for DTH services. With around 28 lakh or 2.8 million subscribers added in the first quarter of fiscal 2017 (Q1-17), DTH households at a gross level crossed over 9 crore or 90 million by 30 June 2016 as per TRAI data.

The DTH industry in India has added about 14 lakh (1.4 million) active subscribers in the quarter ended 30 September 2016 (Q2-17, current quarter) as compared to the immediate trailing quarter (Q1-17). The number of active DTH subscribers in the country increased to 6.19 crore (61.9 million) as compared to 6.05 crore (60.5 million) in Q1-7. TRAI had reported 4.05 crore (40.5 million) active subscribers for the corresponding year ago quarter Q2-16.

The highly fragmented Indian television carriage industry witnessed a consolidation of sorts. The proposed Dish TV and Videocon d2h merger seems to indicate the way ahead in the DTH space. The merged entity would have some 2.64 crore or 26.4 million subscribers, which is approximately 45 per cent of active Indian DTH subscribers. Long-term benefits of the merger synergies could negate potential short-term apprehensions, analysts felt.

The growth of OTT and VOD services on the other hand has been modifying the dynamics at the higher end of the home entertainment segment. Of the 16.8 crore or 168 million TV households, only around 9 lakh or nine million Indians are HD subscribers. Services such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hotstar, Voot and Eros Now, etc may attract DTH subscribers owing to competitive prices for wider and better content including international dramas and shows.

On the whole, however, the DTH sector slackened in subscriber numbers with the government’s mandate to push ahead with digitisation of television not being adhered to by cable TV operators who stalled its progress with legal challenges. Looking at the status quo, the powers that be were left with no option but to push back the sunset for the final phase of digitisation (DAS IV) by three months from 31 December 2016 to 31 March 2017. A few industry experts feel that this could be pushed back further to 30 June 2017 and maybe even to the end of calendar year 2017. Delays will only result in retardation of growth of the carriage industry and hence affect the rate of implementation of improved services for the viewers.

The I&B ministry had broadly accepted TRAI recommendations to increase DTH licence duration to 20 years and for paring the annual fee to eight per cent of adjusted gross revenue (AGR). Some of the regulator’s ideas however lead to consternation. DTH and Cable TV operators had opposed a very appropriate TRAI move to introduce interoperable set-top boxes allowing users to change their service providers without having to change their dishes or STBs. Despite the expected churn that such recommendations are sure to usher in, over the long run, customer satisfaction is likely to be the only yardstick that will determine growth or fall of a service provider.

But is inter-operability possible? Here is the DTH players take on this: DTH players, six of whom pay government Rs 800 crore as licence fee per year in addition to non-refundable entry fee of Rs.10 crore, said that it was not feasible DTH players have invested around Rs 20,000 crore in STBs. Asia’s industry body CASBAA said that even full STB interoperability cannot ensure technical interoperability of services. It also believes that regulator-imposed technical interoperability requirements will impose large burden on Indian consumers and industry players and risk stifling innovation in development of new features.

Let us see how these players are placed in the ecosystem, how they have performed, while bearing in mind that TRAI has released numbers only up to 30 June 2016. Publically available information is limited to three entities that have reported their numbers until 30 September 2016 at the time of filing this report. In alphabetical order, they are: Airtel Digital TV services or Airtel DTH, a segment of the Indian Telecom major Bharti Airtel Limited, Dish TV India Limited (Dish TV) and Videocon d2h Limited or Videocon d2h.

As mentioned above, the market share in terms of subscribers of the DTH leader Dish TV as 2016 dawned was 24.92 per cent, whereas that of Airtel was 20.26 per cent of the total active DTH subscribers in India, followed by Videocon d2h’s 19.93 per cent. The three operators’ combined subscriber additions for the annual period ended 31 March 2016 as compared to the previous year increased by 12.3 per cent. Though Videocon d2h and Airtel Digital TV had both shown a little spike in subscriber addition between Q2-2016 and Q3-2016, the combined addition by the three showed a change of just 3.59 per cent.

In the first half year period of the current fiscal (H1-17) all the three players showed about 17 per cent increase in subscriber numbers. Airtel DTH, Dish TV and Videocon d2h added 6.8 lakh, 6 lakh and 6.6 lakh subscribers respectively, or total of 19,2 lakh, a shade lower than the 19.63 subscribers added in the first half year of the previous year (H1-16).

As per the latest TRAI data publically available, the country’s total DTH homes are around 9.15 crore or 91.5 million. However, the growth in active as well as inactive subscribers remained similar over the past three quarter-year periods in 2016. TRAI data shows that over a third of these subscribers were inactive. However, the regulator observed that active subscribers grew 3.36 per cent in the quarter-year to 31 March (to a total of 6.05 crore or 60.5 million). But at the same time inactive subscribers also increased at 3.05 per cent to 3.01 crore or 30.1 million, the conclusion being tardy growth.

Of late, TRAI has modified its calculation method for inactive subscribers. It now considers even subscribers that have been disconnected for less than 120 days as ‘active’.

Regulatory processes in the broadcast and distribution business saw acceleration around mid-year. The draft Interconnection Regulations, 2016 and the draft Quality of Service and Consumer Protection Regulations, 2016, were released by TRAI seeking comments from stakeholders.

DTH operators however felt there were some omissions, optimistic presumptions as well as unanswered questions in the drafts, but they largely appreciated TRAI’s spirit of transparency and non-discrimination leading to DTH getting the level playing field it sought. Restrictions on the carriage fee could correct the industry’s macro environment, they felt.

DTH companies brought in various schemes to prod up their sagging fortunes. Dish TV unveiled an all new High Definition (HD) campaign. It also aligned its efforts to train an efficient workforce of DTH technicians with the PM scheme. Dish TV also added 32 new educational channels launched by the HRD Ministry on its platform.

During this time Prasar Bharti was actively moving towards business. As pay channels Aajtak and Big Magic came on DD FreeDish, possibilities opened up for more as DD prepared migration to MPEG-4, taking its capacity to 112. Now, as mentioned above, FreeDish capacity has reached 120 channels. As BARC indicated the importance of FreeDish in reaching out to rural India, channels started making a beeline to be on DD’s FTA platform. Further, 100 per cent FDI has been allowed for broadcast carriage services like cable services, teleport, and head-end-in-the-sky (HITS).

Airtel DTH revenues have been on the rise and despite its lower subscriber base. It has now overtaken Dish TV in terms of revenue. In H1-17, Airtel DTH reported revenue of Rs 1,691.40 crore, 21.5 per cent higher than the Rs 1,391.6 crore in H1-16. Operating profit (EBIDTA) in H-17 was 27.2 per cent higher at Rs 626.1 crore as compared to Rs 514 crore in H1-16. Airtel DTH’s capex in H1-17 was almost flat (0.9 per cent lower) at Rs 457.1 crore as compared to Rs 461.40 crore in H1-16.

Dish TV, as Asia Pacific’s largest DTH company in terms of subscriber numbers, has on its platform more than 545 channels and services including 22 audio channels and over 50 HD channels. It has a vast distribution network of over 2,297 distributors in 9,350 towns.

Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel said, “Buoyed by digitisation, notwithstanding the relative seasonal weakness in 1Q, the industry collectively added around 15 per cent higher subscribers compared to the same quarter last fiscal. Dish TV maintained its lead in incremental subscriber additions during the quarter. About the regulatory overhangs, Goel said that the resolution of the DTH license fee matter should go a long way in ensuring non-discrimination amongst various distribution platforms. Goel is hoping for a logical outcome of the TRAI paper on Interconnection Framework for Broadcasting TV Services Distributed through Addressable Systems.

Videocon d2h subscribers have access to over 550 national and international channels and services, including approximately 45 high definition (HD) channels and services, and over 42 audio and video services through its Music Channel Services through several subscription packages, as well as the option of choosing add-ons and a la carte channels.

In H1-17, Videocon d2h revenue increased 13.8 per cent to Rs 1,539.4 crore from Rs 1,352.9 crore in H1-16. Adjusted EBIDTA in H1-17 increased 34.8 per cent to Rs 510.2 crore from Rs 378.6 crore in H1-16. Capex in H1-17 was 16 per cent lower at Rs 335 crore as compared to Rs 399 crore in H1-16.

ARPU’s have been increasing over time, slowly but steadily. Airtel DTH has the highest reported ARPU among the three. Its ARPU in Q2-17 was Rs 232, Rs 8 higher than the Rs 224 in Q2-16, and Re 1 lower than the Rs 233 in the immediate trailing quarter. Dish TV APRU (net of taxes) was Rs 162 in Q2-17 as compared to Rs 161 in Q2-16. Videocon d2h ARPU in Q2-17 was Rs 219 as compared to Rs 205 in Q2-16 and Rs 214 in Q1-17. It may be noted that Dish TV ARPU numbers according to IND AS don’t include service tax hence comparing the ARPU between players will not be an apples to apples comparison.

End points

The merger between Dish TV and Videocon d2h will turn the game into a three corner fight from four corner one – the other major protagonist in the game being TataSky. Reliance DTH and Sun Direct are marginal players and DTH seems for now a small forgotten part of the overall business of their leaders. It is quite likely that they may be sold off or merged with bigger players in the carriage eco-system.

The Dish TV-Videocon d2h merger will make the Essel group that controls Dish TV, as the largest player in the world in terms of subscriber numbers once its cable TV company Siti Networks Limited are reckoned.

The carriage industry in India is evolving. It has travelled some distance, but has a long way ahead. The players are more focused towards investors and not consumer oriented. Some players such as Dish TV have realised the importance of consumers and have started offering packages across price ranges. This can happen only at the cost of ARPUs’, that fact is amply demonstrated by the fact that despite a lower consumer base, Airtel DTH (and probably Tata Sky) has higher revenues than Dish TV. By the time the Dish TV – Videocon d2h merger is complete, it is quite likely that the latter’s revenues will exceed the formers. But over a long period of time, once subscriber bases are stable to an extent, it is also quite likely that Dish TV will be numero uno on that count too.

January 16, 2017
The growth of DTH in India

MUMBAI: Dish TV, Videocon d2h and FreeDish. These were the three names that dominated India’s DTH sector headlines in 2016. The Essel Group’s Dish TV India is likely to forge the mother of a merger, (if permitted by shareholders and government departments) with another fast-growing rival — the Dhoot family led Videocon d2h even after denying it throughout the year.

Further Vidoecon d2h was the second player in the Indian television carriage ecosystem that reported a net profit after tax or PAT– this was for the quarter ended 30 September 2016 or Q2-17. The other player that had started reporting PAT much earlier was Dish TV.

And, the public broadcaster Prasar Bharti-owned FreeDish increased its capacity allowing the number of channels to grow from 80 to 120 to reach India’s hinterlands and hence generate larger subscription numbers.

As per the last available exact data from a government website, the total number of active DTH subscribers in India was 55,981,376 as on 31 December 2015. The number of active DTH subscribers of Airtel was 11,343,424 with a market share of 20.26 per cent of the total number of active DTH subscribers in the entire country; the number of active DTH subscribers of Dish TV was 13,952,866 with a market share of 24.92 per cent of the total number of active DTH subscribers in the entire country. Among all the pay DTH Operators in India, Dish TV had the largest number of DTH subscribers as on 31 December 2015 and was the market leader.

The number of active DTH subscribers of Reliance was 1,786,705 as on 31 December 2015 and its market share was 3.19 per cent of the total number of active DTH subscribers in the country. Among all the DTH Operators in India, Reliance had the smallest number of DTH subscribers.

The number of active DTH subscribers of Sun Direct was 5,698,544 as on 31 December 2015 and Sun direct had a market share of 10.18 per cent; the number of active DTH subscribers of Tata Sky was 12,045,410 which had a market share of Tat Sky was 21.52 per cent; the number of active DTH subscribers of Videocon D2H was 11,154,427 and its market share was 19.93 per cent of the total number of active DTH subscribers in India

With rise in disposable income and increasing number of digital pay-TV households, India is the most compelling market for DTH services. With around 28 lakh or 2.8 million subscribers added in the first quarter of fiscal 2017 (Q1-17), DTH households at a gross level crossed over 9 crore or 90 million by 30 June 2016 as per TRAI data.

The DTH industry in India has added about 14 lakh (1.4 million) active subscribers in the quarter ended 30 September 2016 (Q2-17, current quarter) as compared to the immediate trailing quarter (Q1-17). The number of active DTH subscribers in the country increased to 6.19 crore (61.9 million) as compared to 6.05 crore (60.5 million) in Q1-7. TRAI had reported 4.05 crore (40.5 million) active subscribers for the corresponding year ago quarter Q2-16.

The highly fragmented Indian television carriage industry witnessed a consolidation of sorts. The proposed Dish TV and Videocon d2h merger seems to indicate the way ahead in the DTH space. The merged entity would have some 2.64 crore or 26.4 million subscribers, which is approximately 45 per cent of active Indian DTH subscribers. Long-term benefits of the merger synergies could negate potential short-term apprehensions, analysts felt.

The growth of OTT and VOD services on the other hand has been modifying the dynamics at the higher end of the home entertainment segment. Of the 16.8 crore or 168 million TV households, only around 9 lakh or nine million Indians are HD subscribers. Services such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hotstar, Voot and Eros Now, etc may attract DTH subscribers owing to competitive prices for wider and better content including international dramas and shows.

On the whole, however, the DTH sector slackened in subscriber numbers with the government’s mandate to push ahead with digitisation of television not being adhered to by cable TV operators who stalled its progress with legal challenges. Looking at the status quo, the powers that be were left with no option but to push back the sunset for the final phase of digitisation (DAS IV) by three months from 31 December 2016 to 31 March 2017. A few industry experts feel that this could be pushed back further to 30 June 2017 and maybe even to the end of calendar year 2017. Delays will only result in retardation of growth of the carriage industry and hence affect the rate of implementation of improved services for the viewers.

The I&B ministry had broadly accepted TRAI recommendations to increase DTH licence duration to 20 years and for paring the annual fee to eight per cent of adjusted gross revenue (AGR). Some of the regulator’s ideas however lead to consternation. DTH and Cable TV operators had opposed a very appropriate TRAI move to introduce interoperable set-top boxes allowing users to change their service providers without having to change their dishes or STBs. Despite the expected churn that such recommendations are sure to usher in, over the long run, customer satisfaction is likely to be the only yardstick that will determine growth or fall of a service provider.

But is inter-operability possible? Here is the DTH players take on this: DTH players, six of whom pay government Rs 800 crore as licence fee per year in addition to non-refundable entry fee of Rs.10 crore, said that it was not feasible DTH players have invested around Rs 20,000 crore in STBs. Asia’s industry body CASBAA said that even full STB interoperability cannot ensure technical interoperability of services. It also believes that regulator-imposed technical interoperability requirements will impose large burden on Indian consumers and industry players and risk stifling innovation in development of new features.

Let us see how these players are placed in the ecosystem, how they have performed, while bearing in mind that TRAI has released numbers only up to 30 June 2016. Publically available information is limited to three entities that have reported their numbers until 30 September 2016 at the time of filing this report. In alphabetical order, they are: Airtel Digital TV services or Airtel DTH, a segment of the Indian Telecom major Bharti Airtel Limited, Dish TV India Limited (Dish TV) and Videocon d2h Limited or Videocon d2h.

As mentioned above, the market share in terms of subscribers of the DTH leader Dish TV as 2016 dawned was 24.92 per cent, whereas that of Airtel was 20.26 per cent of the total active DTH subscribers in India, followed by Videocon d2h’s 19.93 per cent. The three operators’ combined subscriber additions for the annual period ended 31 March 2016 as compared to the previous year increased by 12.3 per cent. Though Videocon d2h and Airtel Digital TV had both shown a little spike in subscriber addition between Q2-2016 and Q3-2016, the combined addition by the three showed a change of just 3.59 per cent.

In the first half year period of the current fiscal (H1-17) all the three players showed about 17 per cent increase in subscriber numbers. Airtel DTH, Dish TV and Videocon d2h added 6.8 lakh, 6 lakh and 6.6 lakh subscribers respectively, or total of 19,2 lakh, a shade lower than the 19.63 subscribers added in the first half year of the previous year (H1-16).

As per the latest TRAI data publically available, the country’s total DTH homes are around 9.15 crore or 91.5 million. However, the growth in active as well as inactive subscribers remained similar over the past three quarter-year periods in 2016. TRAI data shows that over a third of these subscribers were inactive. However, the regulator observed that active subscribers grew 3.36 per cent in the quarter-year to 31 March (to a total of 6.05 crore or 60.5 million). But at the same time inactive subscribers also increased at 3.05 per cent to 3.01 crore or 30.1 million, the conclusion being tardy growth.

Of late, TRAI has modified its calculation method for inactive subscribers. It now considers even subscribers that have been disconnected for less than 120 days as ‘active’.

Regulatory processes in the broadcast and distribution business saw acceleration around mid-year. The draft Interconnection Regulations, 2016 and the draft Quality of Service and Consumer Protection Regulations, 2016, were released by TRAI seeking comments from stakeholders.

DTH operators however felt there were some omissions, optimistic presumptions as well as unanswered questions in the drafts, but they largely appreciated TRAI’s spirit of transparency and non-discrimination leading to DTH getting the level playing field it sought. Restrictions on the carriage fee could correct the industry’s macro environment, they felt.

DTH companies brought in various schemes to prod up their sagging fortunes. Dish TV unveiled an all new High Definition (HD) campaign. It also aligned its efforts to train an efficient workforce of DTH technicians with the PM scheme. Dish TV also added 32 new educational channels launched by the HRD Ministry on its platform.

During this time Prasar Bharti was actively moving towards business. As pay channels Aajtak and Big Magic came on DD FreeDish, possibilities opened up for more as DD prepared migration to MPEG-4, taking its capacity to 112. Now, as mentioned above, FreeDish capacity has reached 120 channels. As BARC indicated the importance of FreeDish in reaching out to rural India, channels started making a beeline to be on DD’s FTA platform. Further, 100 per cent FDI has been allowed for broadcast carriage services like cable services, teleport, and head-end-in-the-sky (HITS).

Airtel DTH revenues have been on the rise and despite its lower subscriber base. It has now overtaken Dish TV in terms of revenue. In H1-17, Airtel DTH reported revenue of Rs 1,691.40 crore, 21.5 per cent higher than the Rs 1,391.6 crore in H1-16. Operating profit (EBIDTA) in H-17 was 27.2 per cent higher at Rs 626.1 crore as compared to Rs 514 crore in H1-16. Airtel DTH’s capex in H1-17 was almost flat (0.9 per cent lower) at Rs 457.1 crore as compared to Rs 461.40 crore in H1-16.

Dish TV, as Asia Pacific’s largest DTH company in terms of subscriber numbers, has on its platform more than 545 channels and services including 22 audio channels and over 50 HD channels. It has a vast distribution network of over 2,297 distributors in 9,350 towns.

Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel said, “Buoyed by digitisation, notwithstanding the relative seasonal weakness in 1Q, the industry collectively added around 15 per cent higher subscribers compared to the same quarter last fiscal. Dish TV maintained its lead in incremental subscriber additions during the quarter. About the regulatory overhangs, Goel said that the resolution of the DTH license fee matter should go a long way in ensuring non-discrimination amongst various distribution platforms. Goel is hoping for a logical outcome of the TRAI paper on Interconnection Framework for Broadcasting TV Services Distributed through Addressable Systems.

Videocon d2h subscribers have access to over 550 national and international channels and services, including approximately 45 high definition (HD) channels and services, and over 42 audio and video services through its Music Channel Services through several subscription packages, as well as the option of choosing add-ons and a la carte channels.

In H1-17, Videocon d2h revenue increased 13.8 per cent to Rs 1,539.4 crore from Rs 1,352.9 crore in H1-16. Adjusted EBIDTA in H1-17 increased 34.8 per cent to Rs 510.2 crore from Rs 378.6 crore in H1-16. Capex in H1-17 was 16 per cent lower at Rs 335 crore as compared to Rs 399 crore in H1-16.

ARPU’s have been increasing over time, slowly but steadily. Airtel DTH has the highest reported ARPU among the three. Its ARPU in Q2-17 was Rs 232, Rs 8 higher than the Rs 224 in Q2-16, and Re 1 lower than the Rs 233 in the immediate trailing quarter. Dish TV APRU (net of taxes) was Rs 162 in Q2-17 as compared to Rs 161 in Q2-16. Videocon d2h ARPU in Q2-17 was Rs 219 as compared to Rs 205 in Q2-16 and Rs 214 in Q1-17. It may be noted that Dish TV ARPU numbers according to IND AS don’t include service tax hence comparing the ARPU between players will not be an apples to apples comparison.

End points

The merger between Dish TV and Videocon d2h will turn the game into a three corner fight from four corner one – the other major protagonist in the game being TataSky. Reliance DTH and Sun Direct are marginal players and DTH seems for now a small forgotten part of the overall business of their leaders. It is quite likely that they may be sold off or merged with bigger players in the carriage eco-system.

The Dish TV-Videocon d2h merger will make the Essel group that controls Dish TV, as the largest player in the world in terms of subscriber numbers once its cable TV company Siti Networks Limited are reckoned.

The carriage industry in India is evolving. It has travelled some distance, but has a long way ahead. The players are more focused towards investors and not consumer oriented. Some players such as Dish TV have realised the importance of consumers and have started offering packages across price ranges. This can happen only at the cost of ARPUs’, that fact is amply demonstrated by the fact that despite a lower consumer base, Airtel DTH (and probably Tata Sky) has higher revenues than Dish TV. By the time the Dish TV – Videocon d2h merger is complete, it is quite likely that the latter’s revenues will exceed the formers. But over a long period of time, once subscriber bases are stable to an extent, it is also quite likely that Dish TV will be numero uno on that count too.

January 16, 2017
Is ETV’s Jagdish Chandra joining Zee Media?

MUMBAI: ETV News Network’ Jagdish Chandra has called it a day as the company’s CEO and has already served his notice period.

Chandra, a source said, plans to join Zee Media Corporation and is already negotiating with Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra. He was not available for comment.

It is interesting to note that Zee Business, an arm of Zee Media, does not have a head as of yet.

Chandra was a senior administrator in Rajasthan before he took voluntary retirement in 2008 to join ETV Madhya Pradesh and ETV Rajasthan, and also head the editorial section.

Recently, ETV hired Samsung’s Rajiv Mishra as the business head for the group to manage satellite TV channels namely — News18 Tamil Nadu, News18 Kerala, News18 Assam and North East, ETV Rajasthan, ETV Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand, ETV Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, ETV Bihar and Jharkhand, ETV Urdu, ETV Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, ETV News Gujarati, ETV News Bangla, ETV News Kannada and ETV News Odia.

TV18 Broadcast, a subsidiary of Network 18, acquired the Ramoji Rao-promoted ETV network in January 2014 for Rs 2,053 crore. The deal resulted in it acquiring 100 per cent of regional Hindi news channels ETV Uttar Pradesh, ETV Madhya Pradesh, ETV Rajasthan, ETV Bihar and ETV Urdu and 50 per cent in ETV Marathi, ETV Kannada, ETV Bangla, ETV Gujarati and ETV Odia.

Telugu news and GEC channels ETV Telugu and ETV Telugu News will, however, see TV18 owning only 24.50 per cent equity.

January 4, 2017
Is ETV’s Jagdish Chandra joining Zee Media?

MUMBAI: ETV News Network’ Jagdish Chandra has called it a day as the company’s CEO and has already served his notice period.

Chandra, a source said, plans to join Zee Media Corporation and is already negotiating with Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra. He was not available for comment.

It is interesting to note that Zee Business, an arm of Zee Media, does not have a head as of yet.

Chandra was a senior administrator in Rajasthan before he took voluntary retirement in 2008 to join ETV Madhya Pradesh and ETV Rajasthan, and also head the editorial section.

Recently, ETV hired Samsung’s Rajiv Mishra as the business head for the group to manage satellite TV channels namely — News18 Tamil Nadu, News18 Kerala, News18 Assam and North East, ETV Rajasthan, ETV Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand, ETV Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, ETV Bihar and Jharkhand, ETV Urdu, ETV Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, ETV News Gujarati, ETV News Bangla, ETV News Kannada and ETV News Odia.

TV18 Broadcast, a subsidiary of Network 18, acquired the Ramoji Rao-promoted ETV network in January 2014 for Rs 2,053 crore. The deal resulted in it acquiring 100 per cent of regional Hindi news channels ETV Uttar Pradesh, ETV Madhya Pradesh, ETV Rajasthan, ETV Bihar and ETV Urdu and 50 per cent in ETV Marathi, ETV Kannada, ETV Bangla, ETV Gujarati and ETV Odia.

Telugu news and GEC channels ETV Telugu and ETV Telugu News will, however, see TV18 owning only 24.50 per cent equity.

January 4, 2017
Zee Learn-Tree House proposed merger off

MUMBAI: Zee Learn Ltd has informed the BSE that the Board of Directors meeting of the Company held on 16 December, 2016, the Board took cognizance of the recent adverse media reports of Tree House closing down hundreds of its playgroup centres abruptly leaving parents / students high and dry and of many parents filing police complaints against Tree House and its Promoters.

The Board feels that this may change the complete business dynamics of Tree House and is not in the spirit of the Scheme of Amalgamation signed between ZLL and Tree House.

This fact coupled with the steadily deteriorating financials of Tree House, allegations of irregularities by Tree House / its Promoters and the need to protect the interest of ZLL shareholders, led to the Board of ZLL to unanimously agree to withdraw from the merger process with Tree House.

ZLL Board announced that in light of the recent inordinate developments at Tree House, it is withdrawing from the proposed Merger process with Tree House which has been awaiting various court,shareholder and related statutory approvals.

The Board approved sending requisite communication to Tree House to this effect and also convey to them that ZLL reserves its rights to initiate further suitable action against Tree House, its Promoters for ZLL’s loss of reputation, goodwill and damages.

ZLL, a company promoted by Essel group, which runs Asia’s largest play school chain (Kidzee) with 1600 plus centres, had agreed sometime back to participate in this Merger process with Tree House with great hopes of serving an even larger network of students. Recently, inspite of the reported worsening financial situation at Tree House, ZLL had agreed to keep the merger alive at renegotiated terms. However, the current media reports of Tree House, its Promoters closing down a huge number of centres mid-session without even a thought for the helpless students, parents has left everyone at ZLL aghast as this sort of an action is completely against the moral and professional values of ZLL.

ZLL CEO Debshankar Mukhopadhyay said, “ZLL has already requested its Kidzee Franchisees to try and provide proper mid-term admissions to such ex Tree House students who are stuck and wish to seek help because of Tree House I its Promoters actions. I am sure that our Franchisees will help to whatever extent possible. We hope that other play school chains will also come forward to help the students in this time of their need.”

December 16, 2016
Zee Learn-Tree House proposed merger off

MUMBAI: Zee Learn Ltd has informed the BSE that the Board of Directors meeting of the Company held on 16 December, 2016, the Board took cognizance of the recent adverse media reports of Tree House closing down hundreds of its playgroup centres abruptly leaving parents / students high and dry and of many parents filing police complaints against Tree House and its Promoters.

The Board feels that this may change the complete business dynamics of Tree House and is not in the spirit of the Scheme of Amalgamation signed between ZLL and Tree House.

This fact coupled with the steadily deteriorating financials of Tree House, allegations of irregularities by Tree House / its Promoters and the need to protect the interest of ZLL shareholders, led to the Board of ZLL to unanimously agree to withdraw from the merger process with Tree House.

ZLL Board announced that in light of the recent inordinate developments at Tree House, it is withdrawing from the proposed Merger process with Tree House which has been awaiting various court,shareholder and related statutory approvals.

The Board approved sending requisite communication to Tree House to this effect and also convey to them that ZLL reserves its rights to initiate further suitable action against Tree House, its Promoters for ZLL’s loss of reputation, goodwill and damages.

ZLL, a company promoted by Essel group, which runs Asia’s largest play school chain (Kidzee) with 1600 plus centres, had agreed sometime back to participate in this Merger process with Tree House with great hopes of serving an even larger network of students. Recently, inspite of the reported worsening financial situation at Tree House, ZLL had agreed to keep the merger alive at renegotiated terms. However, the current media reports of Tree House, its Promoters closing down a huge number of centres mid-session without even a thought for the helpless students, parents has left everyone at ZLL aghast as this sort of an action is completely against the moral and professional values of ZLL.

ZLL CEO Debshankar Mukhopadhyay said, “ZLL has already requested its Kidzee Franchisees to try and provide proper mid-term admissions to such ex Tree House students who are stuck and wish to seek help because of Tree House I its Promoters actions. I am sure that our Franchisees will help to whatever extent possible. We hope that other play school chains will also come forward to help the students in this time of their need.”

December 16, 2016
Subhash Chandra files defamation case against Delhi CM

NEW DELHI: Subhash Chandra, Chairman of Essel Group and Zee, has filed a criminal defamation case in a Delhi court last week against Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The plea, filed in Patiala House Court, said that while addressing a press conference on 11 November, 2016 — four days after PM Modi announced demonetisation of Rs 500 and 1000 notes to arrest the rising menace of black money — Kejriwal made “false, fabricated and defamatory allegations” against Chandra alluding that he had amassed black money.

According to the complaint, the Delhi Chief Minister had “defamed the complainant (Chandra) by making inherently defamatory statements and caused serious harm to his reputation by imputing behaviour incompatible with proper conduct and suggestions of involvement in illegal activity.”

Kejriwal had been slapped with a similar complaint in Delhi High Court by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who had said that allegations were made against him without any basis and which amounted to character assassination.“There are many decisions in life that you don’t want to take initially, but you’re left with no other option except that. Personally, I didn’t find any happiness in doing what I have done; in fact it pained me a lot,” in a Facebook post on Sunday Chandra said, adding, “I have had differences of opinion with him (Kejriwal) on numerous occasions but never have I stooped so low and passed any personal remarks on him.”

Sometime back Chandra had created a stir in the media with his support to the government-imposed one-day ban on NDTV India news channel for breaching content code related to national security issues that was subsequently withdrawn. He has also openly favoured the government’s move on demonetisation — criticised by many as an ill-thought and badly implemented move that has hobbled a large swathe of Indians — saying in the long run the initiative would benefit the country.

Pointing out that he had supported the Delhi CM’s various initiatives, including the odd-even number formula to check vehicular pollution in Delhi area when many had ridiculed the move, Chandra said, “I was one amongst the few and the first to have appreciated his move. Not because of any ulterior motive like his, but for the interest of Delhi-ites. Was I having `black money’ even then?”

“What if I say that the Delhi CM had indulged in malpractices to win the Delhi election and he had taken bribe from the Congress Party to contest against Prime Minister Modi in Varanasi and he had paid and hired people to assault him in public and so on. I know all of this is false and so I will never question his integrity and make such personal and baseless remarks. Similarly, what gives him the right to do so?” quipped Chandra, a Member of Parliament of Rajya Sabha or Upper House.

He further went on to ask: “Just because I run a news organization with which he (Kejriwal) is not in good terms or because I, like the whole nation, welcomed the Prime Minister’s demonetization masterstroke or because now I’ve been elected to the Rajya Sabha (public servant), gives him the right to hurl personal abuses?

“And if he or his social media warriors or other AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) cadres, who have always found some pleasure in abusing me, are reading this then I want to humbly tell them that kindly convey it to the Hon’ble Delhi CM who enjoys your support that I never have and never will take any attack on me lightly. It wasn’t an attack just on me but the 10,000 colleagues of mine and the billion hearts and lives that we have touched. Come what may, any further baseless and allegation and remark will be dealt under the provision of law, of which I am a firm believer, unlike the Honourable Chief Minister.”

Chandra’s parting advise to Kejriwal in Hindustani that translates into English as: People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

November 21, 2016
Subhash Chandra files defamation case against Delhi CM

NEW DELHI: Subhash Chandra, Chairman of Essel Group and Zee, has filed a criminal defamation case in a Delhi court last week against Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The plea, filed in Patiala House Court, said that while addressing a press conference on 11 November, 2016 — four days after PM Modi announced demonetisation of Rs 500 and 1000 notes to arrest the rising menace of black money — Kejriwal made “false, fabricated and defamatory allegations” against Chandra alluding that he had amassed black money.

According to the complaint, the Delhi Chief Minister had “defamed the complainant (Chandra) by making inherently defamatory statements and caused serious harm to his reputation by imputing behaviour incompatible with proper conduct and suggestions of involvement in illegal activity.”

Kejriwal had been slapped with a similar complaint in Delhi High Court by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who had said that allegations were made against him without any basis and which amounted to character assassination.“There are many decisions in life that you don’t want to take initially, but you’re left with no other option except that. Personally, I didn’t find any happiness in doing what I have done; in fact it pained me a lot,” in a Facebook post on Sunday Chandra said, adding, “I have had differences of opinion with him (Kejriwal) on numerous occasions but never have I stooped so low and passed any personal remarks on him.”

Sometime back Chandra had created a stir in the media with his support to the government-imposed one-day ban on NDTV India news channel for breaching content code related to national security issues that was subsequently withdrawn. He has also openly favoured the government’s move on demonetisation — criticised by many as an ill-thought and badly implemented move that has hobbled a large swathe of Indians — saying in the long run the initiative would benefit the country.

Pointing out that he had supported the Delhi CM’s various initiatives, including the odd-even number formula to check vehicular pollution in Delhi area when many had ridiculed the move, Chandra said, “I was one amongst the few and the first to have appreciated his move. Not because of any ulterior motive like his, but for the interest of Delhi-ites. Was I having `black money’ even then?”

“What if I say that the Delhi CM had indulged in malpractices to win the Delhi election and he had taken bribe from the Congress Party to contest against Prime Minister Modi in Varanasi and he had paid and hired people to assault him in public and so on. I know all of this is false and so I will never question his integrity and make such personal and baseless remarks. Similarly, what gives him the right to do so?” quipped Chandra, a Member of Parliament of Rajya Sabha or Upper House.

He further went on to ask: “Just because I run a news organization with which he (Kejriwal) is not in good terms or because I, like the whole nation, welcomed the Prime Minister’s demonetization masterstroke or because now I’ve been elected to the Rajya Sabha (public servant), gives him the right to hurl personal abuses?

“And if he or his social media warriors or other AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) cadres, who have always found some pleasure in abusing me, are reading this then I want to humbly tell them that kindly convey it to the Hon’ble Delhi CM who enjoys your support that I never have and never will take any attack on me lightly. It wasn’t an attack just on me but the 10,000 colleagues of mine and the billion hearts and lives that we have touched. Come what may, any further baseless and allegation and remark will be dealt under the provision of law, of which I am a firm believer, unlike the Honourable Chief Minister.”

Chandra’s parting advise to Kejriwal in Hindustani that translates into English as: People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

November 21, 2016
‘Chawal’ to channel: Zee’s 24 years of a memorable roller-coaster ride

It was a hot and humid Delhi afternoon sometime in the very early 1990s. A few journalists, mostly clueless about electronic media as we know it today, were milling around in a room in a central Delhi five-star hotel waiting for a press conference to begin. The host was a hitherto unknown company called Essel. When the conference began, one of the gentlemen, sporting former PM Indira Gandhi-style white streak in his hairs, announced that his company would start India’s first Indian-owned satellite TV channel. The other gent present on the occasion was Rajat Sharma, who was till then known as a print media journalist of some repute. The confusing series of question-answer that followed highlighted that few (including yours truly) had any idea of cable and satellite TV (CNN coverage of the first Iraq War was a trailer for Indians and later Star TV’s Santa Barbara and Bold & The Beautiful were like manna from the sky) and fewer understood fully the gravity of what Subhash Chandra was telling the Delhi scribes.

The rest, as they say, was history. Over 24 years, this journey has not only created India’s first home grown electronic media company, but inspired many others to venture out, as Star Trek’s Captain Kirk & Co would say, where no man or entrepreneur has gone ever before.

Zee Telefilms or Zee Television or Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd — as Zee group has been known in corporate circles from time to time — is itself a testament of the changing ethos of the company and the evolving Indian media landscape. But never has there been a time when the group — now housed over several floors in a swanky building in Mumbai’s Lower Parel area — been not associated with Chandra. To borrow a clichéd political line of the 1970s, it could be said that Zee is Subhash Chandra and Subhash Chandra is Zee.

From those early days — Zee News started late 1990s used to function out of a four-bedroom residential flat in Delhi’s South Extension and the main office on Mumbai’s Annie Besant Road comprised a series of thatched mostly non-AC rooms — it has a been a long journey not only in terms of time, but also business and expansion.

One of last annual reports (if we go back in time) on Zee’s corporate website pertains to 1998-99 financial year. Message from Chairman Chandra read: “For Zee Telefilms, 1998-99 was yet another year of exceptional accomplishment and growth. Having made its debut in 1992 as a software production company and marketing concessionaire, Zee has come a long way with its recognition as an emerging company of the year. The 35.8 percent total return our Company produced on the capital employed is of utmost importance to us. We’re not content with that…”

In 2016, addressing the investors and public at large in the 2015-16 annual report, the vision is gets contemporaneous as Chandra says: “ZEEL is proactively reorganising its operations focusing on newer delivery formats and ramping up its digital business in line with the changing dynamics of the operating environment. Multiple initiatives are being undertaken. Just as consistency has been a hallmark of our journey, so has change!”

Change? Yes, of course. And why not? From a humble beginning, Zee now straddles the world, growing its business portfolio along with global presence and revenues. With a strong presence in over 171 countries and a total viewership of 1 billion plus people around the globe, when Zee claims it’s a worldwide media brand, it isn’t off the mark.

Sample some facts. With a networth of Rs 62,315 million, Zee closed the 2015-16 financial year ending March 2016 with a total income of Rs. 58, 515 million and EBITDA of Rs 15, 095 million wherein global advertising revenue was Rs. 34, 297 million and subscription income was Rs. 20,579 million. Add to these vital stats the fact that the group offers content in multiple Indian and foreign languages and various formats with more than 2,22,703 hours of television content and rights to more than 3,818 movie titles from premiere studios featuring Indian film stars, making it one of the largest Hindi film libraries in the world. All this content is aired via 38 international and 33 domestic channels.

If Essel group, Zee’s parent, made money from trading in commodities in the early parts of its 90-year existence (having begun in a small town in Haryana state), in the 1980s it upgraded itself to export chawal (rice) to the erstwhile USSR, apart from other more urban-centric business activities. This evolution and flirting with little-known businesses has been a hallmark of Zee’s progress too.

Very few would remember that Chandra’s Essel Group wanted to be the first private sector Indian satellite operator having realised that synergies in entertainment, broadcast and delivery business could have its advantages (as also disadvantages). Though the satellite dream is still to fructify as Agrani started and folded quietly in the 1990s, it helped initiate Chandra’s elder son and present MD of Zee Entertainment, Punit Goenka, into the business.

Though Zee had a blow-hot-blow-cold relationship with Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox (in the 1990s it was News Corp) and it’s Indian subsidiary Star TV, the three joint ventures that Zee had with Murdoch’s company in those early days, including a 50:50 shareholding in MSO Siti Cable, helped Chandra and his band of colleagues to firm their footsteps in the broadcast world in India first and then globally.

The joint ventures with Star, which was bought over by Murdoch mid-1990s from Hong Kong-based Chinese businessman Li Ka-Shing, also helped Zee raise himself to broadcast and entertainment’s international levels where negotiations are cut-throat and not an inch is given to even business partners.

A description of a Chandra-Murdoch meeting in New York is telling. An expat, then working with Chandra for the Agrani project, glowingly says that despite Murdoch’s reputation of being a ruthless businessman, the comparatively younger and inexperienced Indian businessman (Chandra) discussed business with the Star TV boss on an equal footing over drinks— as a CEO would talk shop with another CEO. India, probably, is one of those rare instances where even the mighty Murdoch got bought out by his Indian partner in joint ventures.

Just when the 1990s was preparing to bid goodbye, Zee announced it was buying out Star’s shareholding in three joint ventures in a stock-and-share deal worth approximately USD 300 million. Yours truly very well remembers that in an interview soon after the historic deal, Chandra, though jubilant, said in a measured tone said at about 1 am, “Yes, it feels exciting being an Indian (to have bought out the foreign partner), but the tough part has just begun now for Zee.

And he was bang on target— like he has been so many other times. These 24 years for Zee have not been all smooth sailing; especially so after Zee broke its business chords with Star. There have been decisions taken on fronts like programming, corporate and personnel appointments as also distribution that have been questioned by viewers, investors and media observers alike.

Take, for example, the introduction on Zee TV around late 2000 and early 2001 a show titled Sawaal Dus Crore Ka (A Question for Rs. 10 crore or Rs 100 million). Put on air in an effort to counter the runaway success of rival Star Plus’ Amitabh Bachchan-anchored Kaun Banega Crorepati, an Indian version of the UK game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Zee’s Swaal… was a major flop and the channel had to terminate it mid-way blaming its two anchors, film stars Anupam Kher and Manisha Koirala, for its failure after having burnt its fingers and loads of cash. Not to mention Zee’s two failed bids to mount a cricket league (Indian Cricket League), which were shot down by cricket politics, but paved the way for the now hugely successful Indian Premier League, blessed by the Indian cricket Board and cricket’s international apex body ICC.

There have been leadership position appointments that have been also questioned. Adman Sandeep Goyal’s tenure as Group CEO of Zee in 2001, handpicked by Chandra, was regarded controversial.However, destiny’s child that Chandra could be had managed to build a company that was populated with professionals and such decisions helped Zee get over several mishaps over the 24 years.

Some of the best professionals — many of them who have now left Zee to make a name for themselves independently — that worked along with Chandra and later his son Punit included people like programming specialist Kanta Advani, marketing whiz Meenakshi Madhvani (now Menon), newsperson Rajat Sharma (he now owns the Hindi news channel India TV), former Times of India group’s Vijay Jindal and Pradeep Guha (both served as successful CEOs at Zee), strategist Bharat Ranga, communications expert Ashish Kaul, Deepak Shourie, newspersons (at Zee News) Alok Verma and Rohit Bansal, operations specialist Rajiv Khattar (Siti Cable and Dish TV), legal eagle A. Mohan, government relations expert PC Lahiri and, of course, Chandra’s friend, philosopher and guide Ashok Kurien. But most of all, the whole Zee group — now diversified and broken down into separate business entities owing to regulatory restrictions and compulsions — benefited a lot from a harmonious family that controlled it. Chandra’s two younger brothers, Jawahar and Laxmi Goel, at various stages had been instrumental in pushing things and being the balancing factor, but never publicly having a spat with their elder brother.

Because Zee (and Chandra) valued professionals, it was no surprise when Chandra, during his acceptance speech for Asian industry organisation CASBAA’s award for “Lifetime Contribution to the Asian Pay-TV Industry’ in 2009, said, “The achievement is not my own. Many others have made this possible, most notably my old colleagues Ronnie Screwvala of UTV Software, Prannoy Roy, the Chairman of NDTV and Raghav Bahl who now leads Network 18 Group.” Both Screwvala and Bahl since then have exited the companies after selling their shareholding. But even they were taken aback by the graciousness shown by Zee boss.

At a time when Zee could well look back over its shoulder and afford to smile while preparing for the 50th anniversary in a growing digital world, the present leadership of Zee could well borrow poet Robert Frost’s lines, echoed also by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at the time of Independence, `But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep.’ We shall certainly Zee (as in see).

November 3, 2016