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Tag: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd

  • ZEE5 partners with Eduauraa to provide world class online eduction at an affordable price

    ZEE5 partners with Eduauraa to provide world class online eduction at an affordable price

    National: ZEE5, India's largest ConTech brand today, amidst the presence of Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', Hon'ble Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India announced an exclusive partnership with Eduauraa, a premier digital learning platform. After reimagining the content landscape for Indian OTT consumers and entertaining millions of individuals with an array of bespoke content across 100+ originals, movies, news and its brand-new gamification offering all on one single platform, ZEE5 today, via this partnership, has taken a strong step forward in creating purposeful content for its viewers across the Nation. The partnership was launched at an event in Delhi, which was graced by the presence of Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', Hon'ble Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India, and Mr. Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., Mr. Tarun Katial, CEO, ZEE5 India and Ms. Akanksha Chaturvedi, Founder and CEO, Eduauraa.

    Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', Hon'ble Minister of Human Resource Development, during his keynote said, “My congratulations to ZEE5 and Eduauraa for showing great foresight in bringing education to a streaming platform. I am sure that the digital transformation of education will provide easy access to content and democratize education for masses. It should be our endeavour to see more innovation in the learning ecosystem that will allow each child to discover his strengths and abilities and fulfil his dreams in a digital world!”

    India has the world's largest school going population between the age bracket of 6-17 with over 310 million students. Over 55% of Indian students take tuitions, and on an average 11-12% of a parent's income goes on a single child's education. The cost of education has risen from Rs.55,000 to Rs.1,25,000 over the past decade, an increase of over 150%. Despite spending a huge portion of their earnings, parents have no control over the quality of education their children get. Access to e-learning platforms in India remains prohibitively expensive ranging from Rs. 15,000 to Rs.2 lakhs/year.

    When 85% of India earns below 8 lakhs a year, how can India afford this?
    ZEE5 and Eduauraa join hands to democratize education by giving world class quality education content at an
    affordable price, empowering over 310 million students.

    Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. commented, “Education is the most important pillar of any economy. If the education of this Country can be revolutionized, then every individual can be empowered to improve their standard of living, thus having a trickle up effect and in turn positively impacting the development of our Country. ZEE5's initiative with Eduauraa is our first step towards giving back to our extended family by delivering purposeful content at an affordable price.”

    Tarun Katial, CEO, ZEE5 India said, “Our larger vision at ZEE5, is to be able to build a rich repository of purposeful content across genres that makes a ZEE5 subscription an investment for an individual to enjoy content viewing anytime, anywhere. With Eduauraa on board, we want to create purposeful content and address the educational needs of the young students across the Country.  Quality education should be accessible to one and all, irrespective of age, gender, financial capabilities, and their place of stay. In most cities, a significant amount of household income is today spent on private coaching, irrespective of the child's grade. Eduauraa coming on board with ZEE5 will help us strengthen our education content portfolio. With our wide reach across the Country including metros, Tier 2 cities, Tier 3 towns and villages, we hope to provide quality education to children in an engaging way at no extra cost.”

    The partnership will transform the traditional learning system and provide students of class 6th to 12th standard across different boards including ICSE, CBSE and seven state boards (Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu), in English and Hindi. Concept based learning as per Board wise syllabus will be delivered through interactive video lectures using innovative and interactive methods that explain each and every topic or concept.

    Akanksha Chaturvedi, Founder & CEO, Eduauraa commented, “Having studied at great institutions, I realised that India can be transformed if superior quality education can reach every child. The challenge was that world class education was expensive and only the rich could afford it. We believe technology could be used as an enabler to eliminate all barriers and transform the way education is consumed. In ZEE5 we found a partner  with  a similar  vision.  With a  philosophy  of empowering children and playing catalysts to equal opportunities, Eduauraa was created with a vision to democratize education by using technology, making premiere quality education reach every corner of India at an affordable price.”

    ZEE5 has aggressively invested in onboarding best-in-class technology partners who could help deliver a hyper- personalised and a seamless content viewing experience for consumers to watch content on any device, anytime. With Eduauraa coming on board, ZEE5 will continue to invest further in technology to better the overall consumer journey onto the platform by making the app user friendly and intuitive.

    ZEE5 subscribers would be able to conveniently access Eduauraa through an in-app integration. As part of the introductory offering, ZEE5 will offer Eduauraa free for six months for new users who would subscribe to the annual pack and register themselves on or before March 31st, 2020. Eduauraa on ZEE5 would be available in Hindi and English
    – the only educational app at this price point to make language options available for the viewer.

    Some of the segment leading features would include multiple options to learn and excel such as interactive animation videos, e-books, and practice test papers, English learning segment which is valuable for people across all age groups, content to prepare for competitive exams such as civil services, banking and railways, team of IIT's, IIM's and other Professors who are responsible for the quality check of the content, and Eduauraa Proficiency Quotient, Eduauraa Assistant, virtual classroom and mentor service.
     

  • ZEEL to fund 75% of entry cost incurred by creative agencies for Kyoorius Creative Awards

    ZEEL to fund 75% of entry cost incurred by creative agencies for Kyoorius Creative Awards

    MUMBAI: In an industry-first move, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) has expanded its support to the creative community in India. The media conglomerate will fund 75 per cent of entry cost incurred by creative agencies for Kyoorius Creative Awards. ZEEL MD and CEO Punit Goenka and Kyoorius founder and director Rajesh Kejriwal announced the initiative on Thursday. One of the main aims of the partnership is ensuring entries of agencies who, for reasons of commerce, were not able to participate earlier.

    The move will make the participation of creative agencies in the Kyoorius Creative Awards much easier and significantly more cost-efficient. Recognising the budget constraints and immense pressure on margins experienced by agencies, ZEEL has announced this support to ensure that every creative work finds its due share of recognition and appreciation.

    A significant reason for ZEEL’s support to the advertising fraternity is that, as an entertainment company with strong and established businesses in the realm of broadcast, films, music, digital and LIVE entertainment, the company has been a direct beneficiary of the immense creative talent of the industry. With this initiative, ZEEL recognises and applauds the creative quotient of the industry, which complements the entertainment environment through the creation of television commercials, and the significant contribution of the community through their involvement in TV programming, films and content for digital platforms.

    Speaking on this announcement, Goenka said, “We are extremely proud of our symbiotic relationship built with the advertising fraternity, both media and creative, in this journey of entertaining the world. We firmly believe that no creative work should be deprived of being showcased, appreciated or recognized due to commercial constraints. Our association with the Kyoorius Creative Awards enables us to make this disruptive and much-needed change in the current ecosystem. I am glad that this initiative is also in line with IAA’s overall approach of democratising the advertising world.”

    Kejriwal added, “As we step into the seventh year of the Kyoorius Creative Awards, it gives us a great sense of satisfaction to witness the immense support expressed by the creative community and marketers. This initiative would not have achieved the success levels which it has without the investment of time and energy of all the players in the value chain. We are delighted that ZEE has taken a yet another thought leadership stance by supporting the creative community through its association with the Kyoorius Creative Awards. The support from ZEE will not just democratise the awards ecosystem, but will also disrupt the existing power structures.”

  • Zee seeks to tap into regional opportunity with four new language channels

    Zee seeks to tap into regional opportunity with four new language channels

    MUMBAI: Expanding its regional footprint further, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) on Thursday announced four new regional channels — Zee Punjabi (GEC channel) and three movie channels Zee Biskope (Bhojpuri), Zee Thirai (Tamil) and Zee Picchar (Kannada).

    Zee Punjabi and Zee Biskope are scheduled to go on air on 13 January and 14 January 2020 respectively whereas, Zee Thirai and Zee Picchar will launch between February and  March  2020.

    Zee Punjabi is to be a mixture of shows, films, and movies. It will have five fiction and three non-fiction shows along with music, movies and more at launch. The channels tag line has been decided as ‘Kahaaniyaan Punjabi, Boli Punjabi, Zee Punjabi’.

    The three regional movies channel — Zee Biskope, Zee Thirai, and Zee Picchar will be  in addition to the already established regional GEC channels that Zee has  in Bhojpuri, Tamil, and Kannada languages.

    ZEEL’s domestic broadcast business chief executive officer, Punit Misra said, “We have always believed that deep understanding of cultures across the nation and serving people entertainment rooted in each culture win hearts. In the last four to five years, if you look at the regional viewership then all Hindi i.e., GEC and movies was let’s say 38 percent of the total television consumption. All languages (GEC+movies) were around 32 percent. So, there is movement ahead of overall market growth in all regional markets put together. Plus, if you look at the movie genre it has grown in the regional market 2x of the total viewership growth of the country.

    He further added that cultural pulse is at the core of the differentiated strategy at ZEEL. “Our newest offerings are designed to add to our growth trajectory, further cementing our belief in winning hearts across many states.”

    ZEEL’s chief growth officer, Ashish Sehgal spoke about the disruption in the broadcasting industry due to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) New Tariff Order (NTO). He said that the dust is settling and the industry has started showing signs of revival and growth and hence the new channels will only help the network going forward.

    Zee's regional portfolio contributes to over 50 per cent of its overall share, with GECs contributing almost 90 per cent of the regional pie. It is the dominant market player in Marathi, Bangla and Kannada with over 50 per cent market share in Marathi and Bangla markets.

    The content of all these four channels will be shared and available to viewers on Zee’s OTT platform ZEE5, so that they continue binge-watch their favourite TV shows missed episode and films any time.

    ZEEL’s chief marketing officer, Pratyusha Agarwal said: “From a highly TV penetrated but hugely under-consumed latent Punjabi GEC opportunity to insatiable, thriving demand for movies in the Bhojpuri, Tamil, and Kannada markets, the regional need gaps present the perfect opening to further deepen the bonds we have with viewers all over India in various languages. We crafted and curated these four new offerings powered by deep viewer understanding, loads of passion and hoping that our viewers enjoy them as much as we did creating them!"

    ZEEL has completed 27 illustrious years, now entertaining over 800 mn people across India, 650 mn of which comes through non-Hindi offerings, a press statement said.

    Zee Punjabi

    With over 20 hours of original weekly content, Zee Punjabi is the first Punjabi GEC that will celebrate Punjab with stories of Punjabiyat. Zee Punjabi offers its viewers a mixture of blockbuster cinema, ground contest shows, and chart-busting music.

    ZEEL’s cluster head – north, west premium channels, Amit Shah said, “Despite the highest TV penetration (88 per cent) in the country, Punjab has a significantly low time spent and that is a factor of not having dedicated Punjabi content across that does justice to the region and culture.”

    He added, “Zee Punjabi is being launched by understanding the viewer’s need gap; for a culture that is so powerful, Punjab definitely needs its own authentic Punjabi channel.”

    “We have a strong line-up of stories with themes familiar to Punjab, characters that people will fall in love with and faces like Gurdas Mann, Jazzy B, Sonu Kakkar among others, who are respected in Punjab,” adds Zee Punjabi’s business head, Rahul Rao.

    Zee Thirai

    Zee Thirai is a new Tamil movie channel that will present the passion of Tamilians for their cinema and will fuel their heroic spirit through powerful movies, a press statement added.

    The channel will have a programming library of above 400 celebrated titles from Tamil cinema that includes widespread genres from blockbuster hits to critically acclaimed movies such as Mersal, 2.0, Kanna, Kolamavu Kokila among others.

    The channel is to have uninterrupted entertainment with break-less movies in the afternoon slot. The first look of the channel will be unveiled during Zee Cine Awards Tamil in January 2020.

    According to ZEEL’s south cluster head, Siju Prabhakaran, “The launch of Zee Thirai is a showcase of Tamil cinema which has deep-rooted cultural and emotional context. We are seeking to channelise the heroic spirit it infuses in people into a strong brand and content stance.”

    Zee Picchar

    Zee Picchar is a new Kannada movie channel that will make every day a superhot day for the Kannadiga families, a press statement said. The channel will have a library of over 35 celebrated titles spanning across genres and generations from timeless classics to new age trendsetters.

    With an aim of a one-break movie at specific slots for entertainment with minimal disruptions, ZEEL will launch the channel with 12 Picchar premieres to be aired on 12 consecutive days.

    Zee Kannada’s business head, Raghavendra Hunsur said:  “After winning hearts of Kannadigas with Zee Kannada, we are all set to appeal to the viewers’ appetite and further strengthen our presence in the state.”

    Zee Biskope

    Bhojpuri movie channel Zee Biskope will be in addition to the successful GEC Zee Gang and will have a library of over 300 super hit movies with the biggest blockbuster movies of the last five years.

    “Larger-than-life’s south Indian movies dubbed content will be broadcast on Zee Biskope,” a ZEEL official said. He added that people in the north relate to the story of the movies made in the southern part of India, especially Telugu and Tamil cinema.

    ZEEL cluster head, east, Samrat Ghosh added: “The Bhojpuri content industry is increasing manifold in recent years. While Hindi GEC has grown at 40 per cent in the past three years in terms of consumption, the Bhojpuri GEC and movie verticals have grown by 85 per cent.”

  • ZEEL reconstitutes its board even as chairman Subhash Chandra resigns

    ZEEL reconstitutes its board even as chairman Subhash Chandra resigns

    MUMBAI : The board of ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) , during the meeting held today, completed the process of reconstitution of the board and appointed three new independent directors in lieu of two independent and one nominee Director of Essel Group, namely Niharika Vora, Sunil Sharma and Subodh Kumar, respectively. The newly appointed independent director include: former bureaucrat (once finance secretary) and public sector professional R Gopalan, retired IPS professional Surendra Singh, and art entrepreneur Aparajita Jain.

    The founder of ZEE and the pioneer of India's private satellite television industry, Subhash Chandra, during the meeting, expressed his intent to step aside as chairman, which he founded way back in 1992. The board accepted his resignation with regret and applauded his vision for the Company and the industry at large.

    While Chandra stepped aside from the chair, he also expressed the desire to step aside as a board member. However, the entire board requested him to not only continue as a board member but also to be the 'mentor' to the executive management and its MD & CEO.

    The reconstitution of the board was to strengthen and induct independent members with varied experiences to build value and provide a strong signal to the existing and new institutional investors who have recently reposed their faith in the intrinsic value of the company, by investing Rs. 4770 crore. The reconstituted board consists of six independent directors and two members from the Essel Group.

    Besides, M Lakshminarayanan has resigned as Chief Compliance Officer and Company Secretary. In his place, Ashish Agarwal has been appointed as the Company Secretary of Zee with effect from 26 November.

    Ashish , a Commerce Graduate and LLB from MDS University, Ajmer, is a Compliance professional with rich experience of over 20 years, including five years with Essel Group.

  • BARC week 30: Dangal pips pay channels to head all platforms across genres list

    BARC week 30: Dangal pips pay channels to head all platforms across genres list

    BENGALURU: Enterr 10 Television’s free to air (FTA) Hindi GEC headed Broadcast Audience Research Council of India’s (BARC) list of top 10 channels across genres on all platforms in week 30 of 2019 (Saturday, 20 July 2019 to Friday, 26 July 2019, week under review).  As a matter of fact, Dangal was the only FTA channel in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres, a list which quite obviously was a skewed image starting rank 2 onward of BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres for the first nine ranks. BARC also lists out the top 11 free channels across genres every week. This report covers the former two lists.

    Top 10 channels on all platforms and Top 11 pay channels across genres

    Six Hindi GECs, two Tamil GECs and one channel each from the Hindi movies and Telugu genres comprise BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genres on all platforms. There were three channels each from the Star India Network and Sony Pictures Network India (SPN), and one channel each from Enterr 10 Television, Sun TV Network, Network18-Viacom18 and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) in BARC’s across genres on all platforms for week 30 of 2019.

    In comparison, there were five Hindi GECs, two channels each from the Tamil and Telugu genres and one channel each from the Hindi movies and Kannada genres in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres. From the networks’ perspective, there were three channels each from Star India and SPN, two channels each from Zeel and Netwrok18-Viacom18 and one channel from the Sun TV Network.

    As mentioned above, Dangal headed BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres in week 30 of 2019. The channel climbed up one place to first rank with 866.547 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 from second rank and 781.501 million weekly impressions in week 29. Dangal retained first spot in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 free channels across genres in week 30 of 2019 with 665.082 million weekly impressions as compared to 589.591 million weekly impressions in week 29. Dangal was ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in the combined urban and rural Hindi speaking market HSM (U+R) as well as in HSM (R) and was ranked sixth in HSM (U). Dangal also headed BARC’s weekly list of top 8 free Hindi GECs during the week under review.

    Slipping to second rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and retaining first rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres in week 30 of 2019 was the Sun TV Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV with 852.575 million weekly impressions as compared to 863.550 million weekly impressions in week 29 in both the across genres lists. Sun TV also headed BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Tamil channels in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

    Climbing up to third place in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and to second spot in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels was Star India’s flagship Telugu GEC Star Maa in week 30 of 2019 with 789.084 million weekly impressions as compared to 683.816 million weekly impressions in week 29 in both the across genres lists. Star Maa was ranked fifth and fourth in BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres respectively in week 29. Star Maa also headed BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Telugu channels in the Andhra Pradesh/Telangana market.

    Dropping a place to fourth rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and to third spot in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels was Star India’s flagship Hindi GEC Star Plus.  The channel garnered 775.771 million weekly impressions in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres in week 30 of 2019 as compared to 708.740 million weekly impressions in week 29. Star Plus scored 773.598 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres as compared to 708.740 million weekly impressions. Star Plus was ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R) market list, fourth in the HSM (R) list and was ranked first in the HSM (U) list in week 30 of 2019. Further, Star Plus headed BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi pay GECs during the week under review.

    Also dropping a place to fifth rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and falling a place to fourth spot in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres was Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV. Zee TV scored 728.652 million weekly impressions in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres in week 30 of 2019 as compared to fourth rank and 693.440 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Zee TV had 726.127 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres as compared to third rank and 691.204 million weekly impressions in week 29.  Zee TV was ranked third in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R), HSM (R) and HSM (U). Zee TV was ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 pay Hindi GECs in week 30 of 2019.

    SPN’s Hindi GEC Sony Sab climbed a place to sixth rank from seventh rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and to fifth place from sixth spot in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres. Sony Sab garnered 581.451 million weekly impressions in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres during the period under review as compared to 551.715 million weekly impressions in week 29. Sony Sab had 577.502 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres as compared to 547.408 million weekly impressions in week 29. Sony Sab was ranked fourth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R), second in HSM (U) sixth in HSM (R). Sony Sab was ranked third in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 pay Hindi GECs in week 30 of 2019.

    Star India’s flagship Tamil GEC Star Vijay also climbed a place to seventh rank from eighth rank in and BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and from seventh to sixth rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres in week 30 of 2019. The channel garnered 554.680 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres as compared to 531.446 million weekly impressions in the previous week. In BARC’s weekly list of top 10 pay channels across genres, Star Vijay scored 554.672 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 as compared to 531.446 million weekly impressions in week 29. Star Vijay was ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Tamil channels in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

    Viacom18’s flagship Hindi GEC Colors dropped to eight place from sixth rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and from fifth to seventh rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres in week 30 of 2019. Colors garnered 552.502 million weekly impressions in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres as compared to 563.058 million weekly impressions in week 29. In BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres in week 30 of 2019, Colors scored 550.042 million weekly impressions as compared to 558.873 million weekly impressions in week 29.  Colors was ranked fifth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM(U+R), HSM (R) and HSM (U). Colors was ranked fourth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 pay Hindi GECs in week 30 of 2019.

    SPN’s flagship Hindi GEC Sony Entertainment Television or SET climbed a rank to ninth place from tenth place in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and to eighth rank from ninth spot in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres in week 30 of 2019.  SET scored 532.703 million weekly impressions in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres as compared to 504.481 million weekly impressions in week 29. In BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres in week 30 of 2019, SET scored 531.357 million weekly impressions as compared to 502.417 million weekly impressions in week 29. SET was ranked sixth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R), seventh in HSM (R) and fourth in HSM (U). SET was placed fifth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 pay Hindi GECs in week 30 of 2019.

    SPN’s Hindi movies channel Sony Max dropped a place to tenth rank from ninth in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres and to ninth rank in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres in week 30 of 2019 from eighth spot  in week 29. Sony Max scored 501.292 million weekly impressions during the period under review as compared to 504.481 million weekly impressions in week 29 in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels on all platforms across genres. Sony Max garnered 499.359 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 in BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres as compared to 519.990 million weekly impressions in week 29. Sony Max was ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi movies channels in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U) and second in HSM (R). Sony Max was also ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 pay Hindi movies channels in week 30 of 2019.

    Entering BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres at rank 10 was Zeel’s flagship Kannada GEC Zee Kannada with 467.511 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019. Zee Kannada was ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Kannada channels in the Karnataka market.

    The Network18-Viacom18 related Telugu GEC ETV Telugu also entered BARC’s weekly list of top 11 pay channels across genres at rank 11 with 450.861 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019. ETV Telugu was ranked second in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Telugu channels in the Andhra Pradesh/Telangana market.

  • ZEEL reports 13.3% YoY growth in total revenue for Q1 FY20

    ZEEL reports 13.3% YoY growth in total revenue for Q1 FY20

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) has reported 13.3 per cent YoY growth in total revenue at Rs 20,081 million. The company mentioned domestic broadcast and digital business as the growth driver for strong performance.

    Its advertising revenue also witnessed 3.6 per cent YoY growth. In Q1 FY 20, the advertising revenue was at Rs 11,867 million. Domestic advertising revenue grew by 4.2 per cent YoY to Rs 11,322 million. International advertising revenue for the quarter was Rs 545 million.

    In Q1 FY20 the subscription revenue was Rs 7,088 million, marking a 36.7 per cent growth YoY. Domestic subscription revenue grew by 46.7 per cent YoY to Rs 6,240 million. International subscription revenue was Rs 848 million.

    Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 16.6 per cent to Rs 6,598 million with an EBITDA margin of32.9 per cent. PAT for the first quarter was Rs 5,306 million.

    ZEEL managing director and CEO Punit Goenka commented, "We delivered another quarter of strong performance despite the operational challenges faced by the industry due to the implementation of TRAI tariff order. We have witnessed a strong uptake of our channels across markets which is reflected in the 47 per cent growth of our domestic subscription revenues. It validates our standing as the #1 entertainment network of the country, built on the foundation of strong position in each of the markets we operate in. We are confident that the new tariff regime is going to be beneficial for all the stakeholders and will greatly improve the consumer experience.”

    Goenka further stated, “Domestic advertising growth of 4.2 per cent Yo Y is considerably lower than the growth in past quarters. This is primarily on account of the decision to convert our two leading FTA channels to pay, which significantly impacted the ad growth for the quarter. Additionally, the implementation of the new tariff order in the previous quarter negatively impacted reach and viewership of most entertainment channels, leading to a temporary shift in some of the ad spends from entertainment to sports. We believe that the underlying demand for advertising still remains strong and we are confident that spends would come back as the tariff order settles down and the festive season kicks in.”

    “Zee TV was the #2 channel in the pay Hindi GEC segment, led by leadership in the core weekday primetime viewership band. The channel's viewership experienced temporary weakness during the movement to the new tariff regime but saw an improvement towards the end of the quarter. Our strong movie library helped further consolidate our # 1 position in the pay Hindi movie genre,” informed Goenka.

    The company’s regional portfolio continued to gain traction across markets during the quarter. It has maintained leadership position in the Marathi, BangIa and Kannada markets. Zee Tamil continued to increase its market share on the back of strong performance of fiction shows. “We are confident that with our consumer-centric approach and insight driven creative output, we will continue to build market share,” said Goenka.

    Goenka also informed, “Zee Telugu and Zee Sarthak were the #2 channels during the quarter. Our youngest regional channel, Zee Keralam, continued to gain share in the Malayalam market led by performance of the fiction shows. Our portfolio of regional movie channels – Zee Talkies, Zee Bangla Cinema and Zee Cinemalu continued to perform strongly.”

  • Sun continues to shine on its namesake broadcaster

    Sun continues to shine on its namesake broadcaster

    BENGALURU: Television penetration is high in South India about 95 per cent as compared to the national average of about 65 per cent. A little less than forty per cent of television viewership in India is from South India. According to a Sun TV Network investor presentation, the addressable television advertisement market for South Indian television broadcasters, which comprises national, regional and local level advertisers, is pegged at Rs 6,000 crore.

    The four major South Indian languages are (in order of populations of the major territories they are spoken in) Telugu in Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, Tamil in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, Kannada in Karnataka and Malayalam in Kerala. Besides, there is a global diaspora from South India that speaks one or more of these four languages. The largest regions in terms of population is Andhra Pradesh and Telangana combined, followed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. In terms of television households, Tamil Nadu leads because of its higher television penetration, followed by Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala in that order. There are about 225 channels spread across the four South Indian languages that beam into India, besides many more that beam South Indian language content into other geographies.

    Networks, be they regional or pan-India, have been trying to attract as many eyeballs in these regions to their channels as they can. The focus in new channel launches seemed to be Telugu and to some extent Kannada in 2018. Though channels were launched in Tamil and Malayalam languages by major networks, it seemed more as efforts to enter these spaces, rather than to consolidate further.

    Among the major networks, Star India, Sun TV Network, Viacom18/ETV and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) have channels that cater to the viewership pleasure of speakers of at least three of the four languages. All of them would like to lead in each of the four languages. The Sun TV Network has channels across genres such as GEC, movies, music, kids and comedy in all the four languages. The network also has news and ‘life’ channels in Tamil and Telugu.

    As things stood, until 2018, only Sun TV Network and Star India had major channels in all the four languages. Zeel launched its Malayalam GEC Zee Keralam on 19 November 2018 and completed its quartet. The network had catered to only the Telugu, Tamil and Kannada audiences until then. With the launch of Zee Keralam, Zeel had five channels for South Indian viewers – Zee Telugu, Zee Kannada, Zee Tamil and Zee Cinemalu, a Telugu Movies channel.

    The major GECs from the Star India stable included Asianet for Malayalam, Star Vijay for Tamil, Star Suvarana for Kannada and Star Maa for Telugu. Besides, Star India has been wooing sports viewers in South India -it now has 3 sports channels in South Indian languages – the last one to be launched near the end of 2018 – Star Sports 1 Kannada. Earlier, on December 7, the network had launched Star Sports 1 Telugu to join Star Sports 1 Tamil. The launch of Star Sports 1 Kannada took the Star Sports channel count to 15 with 10 standard definition and five high definition channels.

    Another national network, Network18, through Viacom 18 and ETV, has also been making rapid strides to catch up with its peers in the South Indian space. Earlier in the year, on February 19, Viacom 18 Media Pvt Ltd (Viacom 18) had launched Colors Tamil. The company followed it up by launching a Kannada movies channels – Colors Kannada Cinema. Viacom 18 also started the Kannada feed of two of its kids’ channels – Nickelodeon and Nickelodeon Sonic. Through the ETV brand, the Network 18 group launched ETV Pus HD, ETV Life HD and ETV Aburichi HD, ETV Cinema HD were launched on December 27, 2018.

    As many as nine HD channels were launched by two pan India networks in South India. Seven of the new HD channels were Telugu– five GEC and two movies and one each GEC HD channel was launched in Kannada and Malayalam. Network 18 through Viacom 18 and ETV launched five, while Zeel launched four HD channels. Zee Kannada HD was launched on 3 November 2018, while Zee Telugu HD and Zee Cinemalu HD were launched on 1 January 2018. Zee Keralam HD was launched on 5 December 2018.

    2018 saw elections in a number of states in the country. It also saw launch of regional news channels in the south. NewsX Kannada, a Kannada news channel was launched in 2018, while in the Telugu News space, Thota Chandrasekhar who holds positions in actor-politician Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party, launched 99 TV on 11 July, 2018. The Jana Sena Party also reportedly supports another Telugu News channel that started test runs on 24 October 2018 -Prime9 News.

    According to a Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) presentation in April 2018, television viewership in 2017 grew by 32 per cent as compared to 2016. In South India, viewership of Kannada content led the growth, followed by Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam with 63 per cent, 33 per cent, 30 per cent and 16 per cent growth respectively. Comparatively, viewership of the largest language – Hindi, grew by 27 per cent.

    The Sun continues to shine on Sun TV

    BARC data for top 10 channels across genres NCCS All India 2+ reveals that the Sun TVv Networks flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV is the most watched channel in the country. In 2018, Sun TV headed BARC’s list of top 10 channels across genres for 48 of the 52 weeks of 2018. It was only during some weeks of the eleventh edition of the Indian cricketing bonanza IPL that channel lost its prime position in BARC’s list of top 10 channels across genres for four of the seven IPL weeks.

    Among the 4 languages, it was Sun TV that topped BARC’s weekly ratings in Tamil, Star Maa that generally topped the weekly ratings in Telugu, Colors Kannada that topped the ratings in Karnataka and Asianet that topped the ratings in Malayalam during 2018.

    Since week 1 of 2018, BARC has also started putting in the public domain weekly ratings of news channels in these languages – and there are more than forty of them spread across the four languages. Polimer News in Tamil, TV9 Telugu in Telugu, TV9 Kannada, and Asianet News in Malayalam were the regional news toppers according to BARC’s weekly list of top 5 news channels in each respective language during 2018.

    From the financial aspect, the Sun TV Network has been one of the most profitable media and entertainment companies in India. The company has been rewarding its shareholders with dividends for at least three of the four quarters of a fiscal. Financial year 2018-19 or FY 2018-19 (period between 01 April 2018 to 31 March 2019) seems to be no different – the company has already rewarded its shareholders with dividends for the two quarters for which it has declared results so far.

    Despite not having a number 1 position in BARC’s weekly lists of top 5 channels in Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, the network’s channels have a huge combined viewership. The company claims in his investor presentation that about 29 per cent of the estimated Rs 4,500 crore television ad revenue and 60 per cent of subscription revenue of the four South Indian spaces accrues to it. The Sun TV Network’s revenue for FY 2018-19 was Rs 2,862 crore, profit after tax (PAT) was Rs 979 crore (36 per cent margin). Sun TV Network’s ad and subscription revenues for fiscal 2018-19 were Rs 1,172 crore and Rs 1,116 crore respectively.

  • ZEE takes one more giant pioneering step – builds a technology platform to satisfy 5 senses of the viewers to offer immersive customer experience!

    ZEE takes one more giant pioneering step – builds a technology platform to satisfy 5 senses of the viewers to offer immersive customer experience!

    Mumbai: ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (“ZEE”), a global media and entertainment powerhouse, has taken a yet another pioneering giant leap by securing a United States (US) Patent on a technology platform developed in the Silicon Valley at its very own – ZEE Media Lab. This unique platform stems from the Vedic culture of offering an immersive experience to the viewers, satisfying all the 5 senses.

    Built on robust and state of the art technologies like 3D Audio, Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Digital Scent, Holograms and touch, this platform aims to transform the viewers’ home environment by providing exceptional immersive experience. Apart from offering a unique viewing experience in delivering extraordinary entertainment and information-based content, the platform will also enable the viewers to touch, feel, smell and experience products, with a seamless transaction (e-commerce) ecosystem.

    Be it immersive entertainment content, or informative education-based solutions, or gaming, or e-commerce; this comprehensive technology platform is built to cater to every single need of the viewer.

    • Immersive Entertainment – The platform is empowered with 3D Audio, AR, VR, Digital scent, holograms and touch, to transform the viewers’ living rooms into an immersive mode, be it a serene beach or an action-packed fight scene.
    • Immersive Education – The platform is capable to not just educate the viewers about a given topic, say an internal combustion engine, but is also equipped to offer an immersive journey for the viewer right into the cylinders of the combustion engine, taking the learning experience to an altogether different level.
    • Gaming – The platform will not just offer a 3D gaming experience but will also give the players a unique experience to feel the heat of an ongoing combat with the opponent, and even experience the smell of the battle field.
    • Entertainment Commerce – The platform will enable the viewers to order any product which they witness being consumed or used by the lead protagonist on the screen, at the touch of a button. Viewers will be able to smell the perfume worn by their favorite actor / actress on screen and purchase the same within seconds. If the viewer owns a 3D printer, the platform is also capable of even printing the food which one watches on the screen!
    • Home Environment Control – The platform will also be equipped to control the viewers’ home environment, right from the lights, security solutions, to heating, ventilation & air conditioning equipment, ensuring that the viewers’ immersive experience while consuming content is not interrupted at any stage. 

    Speaking on this revolutionary step, ZEE’s Chairman, Subhash Chandra said, “At ZEE, we envisioned 4-5 years back, that the overall media landscape is poised to evolve at an extremely rapid pace, with content companies blending into technology companies. Hence, we started investing our time and energy in building a technology for the future, which enhances the content viewing experience by many folds. ZEE’s lab in the Silicon Valley was set up in 2016 to create this robust platform, and I’m very glad that the US Patent is secured. It is a concrete step in realizing our vision of transforming ourselves from a media & entertainment powerhouse to a technology Company, offering immersive experiences”.

    Adding to this statement, Amit Goenka, CEO, Z5 Global said, “We are extremely excited to offer this unique immersive experience to our viewers. Under the guidance of our visionary Chairman, we are building this unique platform which is futuristic in nature. The US Patent is a major milestone achieved in this process giving us the required level of confidence and reassurance. This is just the beginning of an extraordinary journey of transforming the viewers content viewing experience”.

    While the five senses have not yet been deployed on a commercial scale, with the grant of the US Patent, ZEE can now make the platform available to millions of users across the world. The commercially viable prototype will be ready in the next 12 months. This emboldens ZEE’s plan to target mainstream global viewers across US, Europe, Asia, China and Latin America.

    ZEE Media Lab will continue to innovate in the Silicon Valley to work towards integrating technologies with a sheer focus on enhancing the overall viewer experience.

  • ZEE’s 37 LIVE TV Channels now available for Jio’s Subscribers

    ZEE’s 37 LIVE TV Channels now available for Jio’s Subscribers

    Mumbai: ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (“ZEE”), a global media and entertainment powerhouse and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. (“Jio”), India’s leading digital  services  provider,  today  announced  that  an  agreement  has  been  achieved  to release ZEE’s entire content library on Jio’s platforms, with immediate effect, enhancing the growth of the overall digital ecosystem.

    This decision enhances the experience of 227+ Mn subscribers of Jio, giving them an access to ZEE’s rich and engaging content, which comprises of 37 LIVE TV channels.

    In order to further integrate this strategic content alliance, ZEE5 App, the home of extensive digital content library of ZEE, which includes the Video on Demand (VOD) network content along with the recently launched ZEE5 Originals, Movies, TV Shows, Music Videos, Lifestyle shows, Kids shows and Plays, will also be available for download.

    The alliance aims to leverage ZEE’s rich and hugely popular content portfolio and nationwide reach of Reliance Jio to serve customers with exciting and innovative content solutions.

    Speaking on this decision, Mr. Amit Goenka, CEO, ZEE International & Z5 Global said, “We are extremely glad and excited about this positive development. As content creators our primary objective is to create rich and engaging content for our viewers across the nation and the globe. The expansive reach of Jio enables us to entertain a larger base of consumers with an appetite to consume content-on-the-go. Our content which spans across
    12 Indian languages, empowers Reliance Jio’s value offering to its subscribers and we’re
    extremely glad to take this association forward.”

    Akash Ambani, Director, Jio, said, “We are delighted that our esteemed customers will now  have  access  to  the  engaging  and  diverse  content  from  Zee  Group.  At  Jio  we  are

    committed to providing our consumers the best of content from India and the world in our
    quest to accelerate digital inclusion in the country.”

    ZEE Entertainment and Reliance Jio will jointly market the unique content offering by leveraging its independent consumer facing touchpoints.

  • Mr. Punit Goenka honoured with ‘Outstanding Contribution to Media’ Award at AIMA Managing India Awards 2018

    Mr. Punit Goenka honoured with ‘Outstanding Contribution to Media’ Award at AIMA Managing India Awards 2018

    19 April 2018, New Delhi: One of the most coveted leadership honours in the country, AIMA Managing India Awards, today awarded Mr. Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) with the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Media’ Award.

    The 8th edition of the Award ceremony was held today in New Delhi in the presence of Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Sports and Youth Affairs. Chaired by Mr. Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, the jury nominated eminent personalities who are awarded under various categories The AIMA Awards facilitates outstanding achievers who have made a fundamental difference in the industry setting new benchmarks and created an edge above peers for others to emulate.

    On being recognised for his contribution, Mr. Punit Goenka said, “I dedicate this award to our Chairman, Shri. Subhash Chandra. It was his pioneering vision, which has sparked up an entire industry in itself, creating millions of jobs across the nation. With the advent of enhanced bandwidth and connectivity, the screens might multiply, their dimensions might change, the prime time might change, but ZEE’s focus on creating extraordinary content, will never change. As pioneers in many aspects than one, ZEE’s entrepreneurial spirit will never let us pause, in taking innovative steps in the realm of media & entertainment.”

    Since its inception in 2010, the AIMA Awards have been conferred on leading icons from the Indian industry, media, sport and entertainment. Over the years, AIMA Managing India Awards have become one of the most coveted leadership honours in the country and are greatly value.

    Notes to Editors:

    About Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL)

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) is a worldwide media brand offering entertainment content to diverse audiences. With a presence in over 173 countries and a reach of more than 1.3 billion people around the globe, ZEEL is among the largest global content companies across genres, languages, and platforms.

    With its new brand ideology and purpose – “Extraordinary Together”, ZEEL aspires to provide a unified brand experience and to delight consumers across the world by creating extraordinary entertainment and experiences that inspire to transcend the ordinary and become extraordinary.

    ZEEL is present across broadcasting, movies, music, digital, live entertainment and theatre businesses, both within India and overseas. ZEEL has more than 250,000 hours of television content and houses the world’s largest Hindi film library with rights to more than 4,200 movie titles across various languages. ZEEL has also produced several movies for theatrical release and is the fastest growing music label in India. It has presence in the digital space with ‘dittoTV’ and ‘OZEE’ and has also ventured into live events.

    More information about ZEE and its businesses is available on www.zeetelevision.com.