Tag: Subhash Chandra

Digital space is no longer about just viewing content on multiple devices: Subhash Chandra

MUMBAI: With digital content becoming increasingly mainstream, media juggernaut Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (Zeel) is taking extensive measures to drive larger market share of consumer eyeballs. The group intends to push for inorganic growth through improved content services and plans to leverage constant innovation to engage and ensure consumer stickiness on their media platforms

Zeel plans to monetise its digital offerings like dittoTV and OZEE through a mix of strategies including tie-ups with advertisers, targeted SEO and band solutions. To grow the subscription side of the digital business, the group will focus on multiple technological innovations that empowers consumer to get more by paying less and will allow better user experience and seamless content.

“The global media and entertainment industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4 per cent during 2015-18 to reach around $ 2.3 trillion. This may seem modest in relative terms but its absolute impact is significant… the share of various media is constantly getting recalibrated with digital growing at the fastest rate,” says ZEEL Chairman Subhash Chandra in the annual report 2015-16.

Further adding, “The digital space is no longer about just viewing content on multiple devices. On-demand viewing patterns have resulted in newer content formats, crisper episodes and differentiated content packaging tailor-made to audience preferences. This is where our expertise of rightly gauging the audience pulse is being leveraged ensuring that rich, engaging and relevant content is offered to our viewers across the globe.”

According to Chandra, India will be at the cusp of the transformation in the entertainment industry. Chandra and his team are definitely taking instrumental steps in achieving their long term goals and objectives. Its ditto TV offers its subscribers a complete on-the-go entertainment experience with a choice of over 120 premium live channels and over 40,000 hours of on demand content across TV shows, movies and videos. While all the Zeel channels form part of the ditto TV bouquet, it also aggregates both live and on-demand content from other broadcasters to cater to viewer preferences across genres and languages. ditto TV stands apart from other players for its ‘desh ka TV’ and ‘bees ka TV’ feature through which viewers can watch top shows, hours before their telecast along with digital premieres of movies. The platform has also entered the Limca Book of Records for being the only OTT service with the largest bouquet of channels across 13 languages.

“However, the share of wallet that entertainment commands today is lower than the global average presenting a great opportunity for growth,” he says.

The riposte recently launched dittoTV with a bouquet of 100 plus channels at a price point of just Rs 20 per month. The price gets even more lip smacking for users subscribing for three months (Rs 50), six months (Rs 90) and annually (Rs 170). The platform has tied up with major Indian broadcasters with the exception of the SunTV group and Star India giving it a portfolio of 100+ Hindi, English and regional language channels, encompassing general entertainment, sports, movies, news and lifestyle on board.

“With the new avatar of dittoTV, we aim to change the media landscape to suit the evolving media consumption preferences of consumers. It will allow users to control where they watch television in a way that has not been possible before. We are proud to present a platform that will help scale up this transformation by making it affordable for people across a wide economic spectrum,” voices Zeel MD & CEO Punit Goenka.

OZEE, Zeel’s free of cost VOD platform, launched to provide the vast library of entertainment on anytime anywhere basis, across devices. The platform showcases the latest and full episodes of TV shows from popular Zeel channels like Zee TV, & TV, Zee Marathi, Zee Telugu, Zee Tamil and more. The platform also hosts a vast library of popular music hits from Zee Music Company, and full length movies in Hindi and regional languages. It offers entertainment to over 11.6 mn users, generating 114.4 mn page views and 75.4 mn video views as of March 2016.

Zeel’s international OTT service, Zee Family TV streams over 30 live channels and has 2,000 plus movies on demand besides 25,000 plus hours of library content. It has over 86,000 users and is available across 152 countries. Zee Family TV is available across devices, and has considerably helped in curbing piracy.

“Increasing urbanisation coupled with the Phase III and IV digitisation by the government is ensuring better entertainment infrastructure and a more addressable and understandable. 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,” opines Chandra.

The media brand offers content in multiple languages and has a strong presence in over 171 countries with a total viewership of 1 billion around the globe. It has a network share of 17.9 per cent while its total revenue comes close to Rs 58,515 million.

July 5, 2016
Digital space is no longer about just viewing content on multiple devices: Subhash Chandra

MUMBAI: With digital content becoming increasingly mainstream, media juggernaut Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (Zeel) is taking extensive measures to drive larger market share of consumer eyeballs. The group intends to push for inorganic growth through improved content services and plans to leverage constant innovation to engage and ensure consumer stickiness on their media platforms

Zeel plans to monetise its digital offerings like dittoTV and OZEE through a mix of strategies including tie-ups with advertisers, targeted SEO and band solutions. To grow the subscription side of the digital business, the group will focus on multiple technological innovations that empowers consumer to get more by paying less and will allow better user experience and seamless content.

“The global media and entertainment industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4 per cent during 2015-18 to reach around $ 2.3 trillion. This may seem modest in relative terms but its absolute impact is significant… the share of various media is constantly getting recalibrated with digital growing at the fastest rate,” says ZEEL Chairman Subhash Chandra in the annual report 2015-16.

Further adding, “The digital space is no longer about just viewing content on multiple devices. On-demand viewing patterns have resulted in newer content formats, crisper episodes and differentiated content packaging tailor-made to audience preferences. This is where our expertise of rightly gauging the audience pulse is being leveraged ensuring that rich, engaging and relevant content is offered to our viewers across the globe.”

According to Chandra, India will be at the cusp of the transformation in the entertainment industry. Chandra and his team are definitely taking instrumental steps in achieving their long term goals and objectives. Its ditto TV offers its subscribers a complete on-the-go entertainment experience with a choice of over 120 premium live channels and over 40,000 hours of on demand content across TV shows, movies and videos. While all the Zeel channels form part of the ditto TV bouquet, it also aggregates both live and on-demand content from other broadcasters to cater to viewer preferences across genres and languages. ditto TV stands apart from other players for its ‘desh ka TV’ and ‘bees ka TV’ feature through which viewers can watch top shows, hours before their telecast along with digital premieres of movies. The platform has also entered the Limca Book of Records for being the only OTT service with the largest bouquet of channels across 13 languages.

“However, the share of wallet that entertainment commands today is lower than the global average presenting a great opportunity for growth,” he says.

The riposte recently launched dittoTV with a bouquet of 100 plus channels at a price point of just Rs 20 per month. The price gets even more lip smacking for users subscribing for three months (Rs 50), six months (Rs 90) and annually (Rs 170). The platform has tied up with major Indian broadcasters with the exception of the SunTV group and Star India giving it a portfolio of 100+ Hindi, English and regional language channels, encompassing general entertainment, sports, movies, news and lifestyle on board.

“With the new avatar of dittoTV, we aim to change the media landscape to suit the evolving media consumption preferences of consumers. It will allow users to control where they watch television in a way that has not been possible before. We are proud to present a platform that will help scale up this transformation by making it affordable for people across a wide economic spectrum,” voices Zeel MD & CEO Punit Goenka.

OZEE, Zeel’s free of cost VOD platform, launched to provide the vast library of entertainment on anytime anywhere basis, across devices. The platform showcases the latest and full episodes of TV shows from popular Zeel channels like Zee TV, & TV, Zee Marathi, Zee Telugu, Zee Tamil and more. The platform also hosts a vast library of popular music hits from Zee Music Company, and full length movies in Hindi and regional languages. It offers entertainment to over 11.6 mn users, generating 114.4 mn page views and 75.4 mn video views as of March 2016.

Zeel’s international OTT service, Zee Family TV streams over 30 live channels and has 2,000 plus movies on demand besides 25,000 plus hours of library content. It has over 86,000 users and is available across 152 countries. Zee Family TV is available across devices, and has considerably helped in curbing piracy.

“Increasing urbanisation coupled with the Phase III and IV digitisation by the government is ensuring better entertainment infrastructure and a more addressable and understandable. 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,” opines Chandra.

The media brand offers content in multiple languages and has a strong presence in over 171 countries with a total viewership of 1 billion around the globe. It has a network share of 17.9 per cent while its total revenue comes close to Rs 58,515 million.

July 5, 2016
Subhash Chandra elected to Rajya Sabha as independent member

NEW DELHI: Essel Group Chairman and noted philanthropist Subhash Chandra has been elected to the Rajya Sabha as an independent candidate from Haryana.

Chandra was supported by the Haryana unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party who receoived 29 votes.

His election coincides with the Essel Group completing ninety years of existence.

Chandra launched the first private satellite television channel Zee TV in 1992 and later the first private news channel Zee News.

For his outstanding contributions to the media industry, Dr Chandra was awarded the 2011 International Emmy Directorate Award at the 39th International Emmy Awards in New York – first to receive the award recognizing excellence in television programming outside the United States.
He also now presents a weekly Dr Subhash Chandra Show, where he shares the lessons learnt by him in his journey with an invited audience and an estimated 230+ million viewers across the country and overseas.

Born on 30 November 1950, he dropped out of school in 1970 while in 10th grade to join family business of commission agent and trader who procured and supplied rice to Food Corporation of India.

In the 1980s, he started manufacturing flexible packaging (mainly plastic tubes) for toothpaste, etc. under the name Essel Packaging. He followed up with a leisure park EsselWorld in north Mumbai. In 1992, he launched Zee Television, in collaboration with Li Ka Shing and the first online lottery and first Dish TV in India.

His TV channels number around 70 in different languagesHe started the Indian Cricket League, a domestic Twenty20 league but failed.In November 2009, he took over management responsibility of the English Daily News & Analysis (DNA) newspaper. The DNA had been launched in 2005 in collaboration with the Dainik Bhaskar group/ Chandra is the founder-Chairman of the Global Foundation for Civilizational Harmony, an interfaith group. He has donated land for Global Vipassana Pagoda at Borivili and contributed to the spread of this meditation method.

Late last month, Chandra stepped down from the post of director and non-executive chairman of Zee Media.

June 13, 2016
Subhash Chandra elected to Rajya Sabha as independent member

NEW DELHI: Essel Group Chairman and noted philanthropist Subhash Chandra has been elected to the Rajya Sabha as an independent candidate from Haryana.

Chandra was supported by the Haryana unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party who receoived 29 votes.

His election coincides with the Essel Group completing ninety years of existence.

Chandra launched the first private satellite television channel Zee TV in 1992 and later the first private news channel Zee News.

For his outstanding contributions to the media industry, Dr Chandra was awarded the 2011 International Emmy Directorate Award at the 39th International Emmy Awards in New York – first to receive the award recognizing excellence in television programming outside the United States.
He also now presents a weekly Dr Subhash Chandra Show, where he shares the lessons learnt by him in his journey with an invited audience and an estimated 230+ million viewers across the country and overseas.

Born on 30 November 1950, he dropped out of school in 1970 while in 10th grade to join family business of commission agent and trader who procured and supplied rice to Food Corporation of India.

In the 1980s, he started manufacturing flexible packaging (mainly plastic tubes) for toothpaste, etc. under the name Essel Packaging. He followed up with a leisure park EsselWorld in north Mumbai. In 1992, he launched Zee Television, in collaboration with Li Ka Shing and the first online lottery and first Dish TV in India.

His TV channels number around 70 in different languagesHe started the Indian Cricket League, a domestic Twenty20 league but failed.In November 2009, he took over management responsibility of the English Daily News & Analysis (DNA) newspaper. The DNA had been launched in 2005 in collaboration with the Dainik Bhaskar group/ Chandra is the founder-Chairman of the Global Foundation for Civilizational Harmony, an interfaith group. He has donated land for Global Vipassana Pagoda at Borivili and contributed to the spread of this meditation method.

Late last month, Chandra stepped down from the post of director and non-executive chairman of Zee Media.

June 13, 2016
Samir Ahluwalia relieved from role of CEO content

MUMBAI: Zee Media is seeing a major reshuffling with several appointments, elevations and resignations. After the resignation of Dr. Subhash Chandra as director and non-executive chairman of the company, it is learnt that Zee Business’ Samir Ahluwalia has been relieved from his role as CEO content.

He was re-designated as the editor for Zee Business about a month ago soon after the news of Amish Devgan stepping down broke.

Ahluwalia has deep expertise in content and editorial understanding. His main focus was on increasing the channel’s stickiness with the viewers and in turn, increasing traction with advertisers. He has been a part of Zee News from the past 19 years and was elevated as the CEO content and VP (business) in 2014 of Zee Media.

Apart from this, Zee Media is planning to further continue with its strategy to promote the phalanx of on-air faces which includes Gaurav Agarwal, Mihir Bhatt and Virendra Kumar. And a new a gameplan is being drawn up to give its growth an impetus.

June 6, 2016
Samir Ahluwalia relieved from role of CEO content

MUMBAI: Zee Media is seeing a major reshuffling with several appointments, elevations and resignations. After the resignation of Dr. Subhash Chandra as director and non-executive chairman of the company, it is learnt that Zee Business’ Samir Ahluwalia has been relieved from his role as CEO content.

He was re-designated as the editor for Zee Business about a month ago soon after the news of Amish Devgan stepping down broke.

Ahluwalia has deep expertise in content and editorial understanding. His main focus was on increasing the channel’s stickiness with the viewers and in turn, increasing traction with advertisers. He has been a part of Zee News from the past 19 years and was elevated as the CEO content and VP (business) in 2014 of Zee Media.

Apart from this, Zee Media is planning to further continue with its strategy to promote the phalanx of on-air faces which includes Gaurav Agarwal, Mihir Bhatt and Virendra Kumar. And a new a gameplan is being drawn up to give its growth an impetus.

June 6, 2016
FY-16: Zee Media board proposes 15 percent dividend

BENGALURU: The board of Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL), the erstwhile Zee News Limited has recommended payment of equity dividend of Re. 0.15/- per equity share of Re. 1/- each (equivalent to 15 percent on the paid up equity capital), to the equity shareholders for the year ended 31 March 2016 (FY-16, current year). Despite almost flat standalone (up by 0.9 percent) revenue in FY-16 as compared to FY-15, the company has reported more than triple the stand alone profit at Rs 18.75 crore (4.9 percent PAT margin) as compared to Rs 6.17 crore (1.6 percent margin). The company has reported a drop in expenses for the current year as compared to the previous year.

ZMCL reported standalone total income from operations (revenue, TIO) of Rs 383.61 crore in FY-16 as compared to Rs 380.33 crore in FY-15.

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.

The ZMCL board also took on record the resignation of Subhash Chandra as director and non-executive chairman of the company with effect from May 24, 2016; and

The ZMCL boards has, based on recommendations of nomination and remuneration committee, approved appointment of R K Arora, CEO as an additional director and upon such appointment, his appointment as an executive director & CEO of the Company for a period of 3 years with effect from May 24, 2016.

Let us look at the other numbers reported by ZMCL

On a consolidated basis, TIO declined marginally by 0.3 percent to Rs 542.91 crore in the current fiscal from Rs 544.33 crore in FY-15. The company reported consolidated profit before tax (PBT) of Rs 2.87 crore in the current year as compared to a consolidated loss before tax of Rs 55.51 crore in FY-15.

Revenue from ZMCL’s Television segment in FY-16 increased 3 percent to Rs 434.59 crore from Rs 422.12 crore in FY-15. ZMCL’s Television segment reported EBIDTA of Rs 79.99 crore in the current year as compared to Rs 59.57 crore in the previous year.

Revenue from the print segment declined 24.4 percent to Rs 108.53 crore in FY-16 from Rs 143.62 crore in FY-15. Print segment reported an operating loss of Rs 0.2 crore as compared to an operating loss of Rs 21.41 crore in FY-15.

ZMCL’s advertising revenue in FY-16 increased 1.8 percent to 401.15 crore from Rs 393.88 crore in FY-15. Advertising revenue from existing television channels in FY-16 increased 1.3 percent to Rs 302.12 crore as compared to Rs 296.74 crore in FY-15. Advertising revenue from new channels in FY-16 more than doubled (2.02 times) to Rs 29.71 crore from Rs 13.81 crore in FY-15.

Subscription revenue in the current year declined 9.8 percent to Rs 102.39 crore from Rs 113.54 crore in the previous year. Other sales and services revenue in FY-16 increased 6.7 percent to Rs 39.37 crore as compared to Rs 36.91 crore in FY-15.

Total consolidated expense in FY-16 declined 8.1 percent to Rs 465.12 crore from Rs 506.17 crore.

Cost of goods and operations in FY-16 declined 15.8 percent to Rs 132.87 crore from Rs 157.90 crore. Employee cost in the current year declined 8.3 percent to Rs 147.35 crore from Rs 160.66 crore in FY-15. Other expenses declined 1.4 percent to Rs 184.90 crore in FY-15 from Rs 187.61 crore in the previous year.

Company speak

ZMCL executive director and CEO RK Arora said: “The Indian economy continues to outperform other major economies of the world. Forecast for a good monsoon season is expected to further fuel the growth. With the macroeconomic environment promising a bright future, the media and entertainment industry is expected to use the emerging opportunities – increased ad spends – to chart a robust growth path. We at ZMCL have adopted a three pronged approach for innovation and growth. For our advertisers, we are constantly bringing out new innovations to maximize their return on investment. For our audience, our endeavor is to provide differentiated, innovative, and positive news content which cuts through the morass of the market. For our shareholders, we are constantly striving to use technology and enhance processes to establish industry benchmarks. Our significantly improved profit margins point towards the success we have achieved in our endeavours.”

May 25, 2016
FY-16: Zee Media board proposes 15 percent dividend

BENGALURU: The board of Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL), the erstwhile Zee News Limited has recommended payment of equity dividend of Re. 0.15/- per equity share of Re. 1/- each (equivalent to 15 percent on the paid up equity capital), to the equity shareholders for the year ended 31 March 2016 (FY-16, current year). Despite almost flat standalone (up by 0.9 percent) revenue in FY-16 as compared to FY-15, the company has reported more than triple the stand alone profit at Rs 18.75 crore (4.9 percent PAT margin) as compared to Rs 6.17 crore (1.6 percent margin). The company has reported a drop in expenses for the current year as compared to the previous year.

ZMCL reported standalone total income from operations (revenue, TIO) of Rs 383.61 crore in FY-16 as compared to Rs 380.33 crore in FY-15.

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.

The ZMCL board also took on record the resignation of Subhash Chandra as director and non-executive chairman of the company with effect from May 24, 2016; and

The ZMCL boards has, based on recommendations of nomination and remuneration committee, approved appointment of R K Arora, CEO as an additional director and upon such appointment, his appointment as an executive director & CEO of the Company for a period of 3 years with effect from May 24, 2016.

Let us look at the other numbers reported by ZMCL

On a consolidated basis, TIO declined marginally by 0.3 percent to Rs 542.91 crore in the current fiscal from Rs 544.33 crore in FY-15. The company reported consolidated profit before tax (PBT) of Rs 2.87 crore in the current year as compared to a consolidated loss before tax of Rs 55.51 crore in FY-15.

Revenue from ZMCL’s Television segment in FY-16 increased 3 percent to Rs 434.59 crore from Rs 422.12 crore in FY-15. ZMCL’s Television segment reported EBIDTA of Rs 79.99 crore in the current year as compared to Rs 59.57 crore in the previous year.

Revenue from the print segment declined 24.4 percent to Rs 108.53 crore in FY-16 from Rs 143.62 crore in FY-15. Print segment reported an operating loss of Rs 0.2 crore as compared to an operating loss of Rs 21.41 crore in FY-15.

ZMCL’s advertising revenue in FY-16 increased 1.8 percent to 401.15 crore from Rs 393.88 crore in FY-15. Advertising revenue from existing television channels in FY-16 increased 1.3 percent to Rs 302.12 crore as compared to Rs 296.74 crore in FY-15. Advertising revenue from new channels in FY-16 more than doubled (2.02 times) to Rs 29.71 crore from Rs 13.81 crore in FY-15.

Subscription revenue in the current year declined 9.8 percent to Rs 102.39 crore from Rs 113.54 crore in the previous year. Other sales and services revenue in FY-16 increased 6.7 percent to Rs 39.37 crore as compared to Rs 36.91 crore in FY-15.

Total consolidated expense in FY-16 declined 8.1 percent to Rs 465.12 crore from Rs 506.17 crore.

Cost of goods and operations in FY-16 declined 15.8 percent to Rs 132.87 crore from Rs 157.90 crore. Employee cost in the current year declined 8.3 percent to Rs 147.35 crore from Rs 160.66 crore in FY-15. Other expenses declined 1.4 percent to Rs 184.90 crore in FY-15 from Rs 187.61 crore in the previous year.

Company speak

ZMCL executive director and CEO RK Arora said: “The Indian economy continues to outperform other major economies of the world. Forecast for a good monsoon season is expected to further fuel the growth. With the macroeconomic environment promising a bright future, the media and entertainment industry is expected to use the emerging opportunities – increased ad spends – to chart a robust growth path. We at ZMCL have adopted a three pronged approach for innovation and growth. For our advertisers, we are constantly bringing out new innovations to maximize their return on investment. For our audience, our endeavor is to provide differentiated, innovative, and positive news content which cuts through the morass of the market. For our shareholders, we are constantly striving to use technology and enhance processes to establish industry benchmarks. Our significantly improved profit margins point towards the success we have achieved in our endeavours.”

May 25, 2016
Subhash Chandra resigns; R K Arora appointed as Zee Media CEO

MUMBAI: Subhash Chandra has stepped down from the post of director and non-executive chairman of Zee Media. According to a report on BSE, Zee Media announced that its board meeting held on 24 May took on record the resignation of Dr. Subhash Chandra as director and non-executive chairman of the company with effect from 24 May.

With this announcement, R K Arora has been appointed as the CEO as an additional director of the company with immediate effect.

Zee Media has a lavish portfolio of news channels under it which includes Zee News, Zee Business, India 24×7, Zee Punjab Haryana Himachal, Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh, Zee 24 Taas, 24 Ghanta, Zee Kalinga News, Zee Purvaiya and Zee Rajasthan News.

May 25, 2016
Subhash Chandra resigns; R K Arora appointed as Zee Media CEO

MUMBAI: Subhash Chandra has stepped down from the post of director and non-executive chairman of Zee Media. According to a report on BSE, Zee Media announced that its board meeting held on 24 May took on record the resignation of Dr. Subhash Chandra as director and non-executive chairman of the company with effect from 24 May.

With this announcement, R K Arora has been appointed as the CEO as an additional director of the company with immediate effect.

Zee Media has a lavish portfolio of news channels under it which includes Zee News, Zee Business, India 24×7, Zee Punjab Haryana Himachal, Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh, Zee 24 Taas, 24 Ghanta, Zee Kalinga News, Zee Purvaiya and Zee Rajasthan News.

May 25, 2016