ITV

Tag: Zee Kannada

  • Zee Kannada to launch two new fiction shows

    Zee Kannada to launch two new fiction shows

    MUMBAI: Zee Kannada will be launching two new fiction shows after the recent launch of its non-fiction property – Life Super Guru.

     

    Both the fiction shows are produced by producer – director Ravi R Garani. The first show is titled Mr & Mrs Rangegowda, which will be aired at 8 pm, whereas the second show titled Ondoornalli Raja Rani will be aired at 8.30 pm. The shows go on air from Monday, 16 February.

     

    Mr & Mrs Rangegowda is a mass entertainer. The male protagonist Rangegowda is an illiterate villager and the female protagonist Aishwarya, is a highly qualified city girl. The love story between the two forms the crux of the story.

     

    On the other hand, Ondoornalli Raja Rani is an off-beat story set in a small town. The female lead Rani is in search of a bride to get her father remarried while the male lead Raja is on the lookout for his aunt’s long lost family.

  • Godrej moves beyond TVC with soaps integration

    Godrej moves beyond TVC with soaps integration

    MUMBAI: The 30-sec ad has served all of us well and still continues to do so. Today, content is king, and broadcasters are trying newer ways of communication to reach consumers.

     

    One such means is brands’ integration with broadcasters on TV shows. A case in point is the Tata Safari tie up with Colors’ for 24. With the fast changing consumer behaviors, attitudes, lifestyles and beliefs, brands along with broadcasters have realised that integration with the popular shows will help build recall value.

     

    Recently Madison Media Ultra team partnered with national and regional broadcasters on their prime time serials and scripted Godrej product story with ongoing story line of episode. It executed this ‘epistory’ concept where they got lead characters of the show advocating the simplicity and joy of owning and using Godrej products in their day to day life.

     

    Prime time serials, which represent the metro forward audiences, were chosen (like Mere Rang Mein Rangne Wali on Life OK, Uyirmei on Zee Tamil, Parvati Parameshwara on Zee Kannada and Raage Anuraage on Zee Bangla) for the eight brand integrations in a single episode.

     

    The eight products were – U-sonic Washing Machine, Godrej Interio Video-door phone, Godrej Interio Kreation Wardrobe, Electronic hydraulic Karbon Bed, Good Knight Fast Card, Yummiez – Mumbai Vada, Godrej Expert rich cr?me hair colour and Godrej Properties.

     

    Godrej Group head – strategic marketing Shireesh Joshi said, “There are two core objectives behind the brand integration. One, it wants people to recognise that Godrej has the most comprehensive range of modern products that takes into account their lifestyle needs. For that we need to ensure that multiple Godrej examples get shown on television.”

     

    Secondly, it wants to drive the revenue traffic to the individual products themselves. “Having an opportunity to tell what the product is about and what it does, it helps both the attraction and the revenue for the individual products,” asserts Joshi.

     

    The campaign revolves around a young modern couple who discover a new idea from Godrej. In this eight series film campaign, Godrej products were interwoven in an episodic way showcasing a slew of innovative products, through the continued story of Sam and Meera, who made their debut in Godrej Masterbrand campaign last year.

     

    Joshi feels that there is an advantage in integrating with TV shows, as it allows them to showcase unlimited products, where a quick 30 sec TVC demands only one or two. Further it also helps the brand to explain the products in a far more detailed manner and also helps them to move beyond a 30 sec TVC. “Because it is embedded in the story and coming from characters that audiences are watching, it also acts as an endorsement.”

     

    So how does it work? Firstly, the brand identifies the channel. Looking at that as a starting point, it tries to identify which program makes sense based on the kind of communication that the brand wants to convey to the audiences. It took between 8-12 weeks right from ideation to scripting and lastly shooting.

     

    On the marketing front, customized promos from the integration episode were created and promoted separately on-air on the respective channels to drive maximum tune-ins for the integration episode. An additional watch and win promo was also created for brand contest to drive maximum call on Godrej Free G number where viewers could participate and answer questions and win prizes.

     

  • ‘Hum Hain… Umeed-e-Kashmir’ says Zee TV

    ‘Hum Hain… Umeed-e-Kashmir’ says Zee TV

     MUMBAI: Bollywood’s youngest superstars Parineeti Chopra and Sushant Singh Rajput joined the Charity concert held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor stadium in Delhi for the flood victims of Kashmir and Assam.  A total of 35 Zee channels will simulcast this initiative on 26 October. Also, Zee Marathi, Zee Kannada and Zee Telegu will air the event on 2 November. This fund-raiser campaign, “Hum Hain… Umeed-e-Kashmir” is an initiative to raise funds and awareness for flood-stricken Kashmir that has devastated and unhinged the lives of many leaving, many casualties and loss of homes, property and livelihoods in its wake.
     
    This evening, 18 October, Hum Hain…Ummeed e Kashmir was hosted by the Zee TV’s Jamai Raja; Ravi Dubey and the charming Sameer Kochchar at the Indira Gandhi Indoor stadium in Delhi and featured a veritable who’s who: Farhan Akhtar, Amir Khan, Shaan, Shantanu Moitra, Mohit Chauhan, Anupam Kher, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Neha Dhupia, Aditi Rao Hydari, Vivek Oberoi, Daler Mehendi, Neeti Mohan, Aditi Singh Sharma and Harsheep Kaur  to perform and appealed to viewers to donate graciously to rebuilt Kashmir.  
     
    Send your donations to www.zeetv.com/humhain/

  • Zee Kannada restructures management and teams

    Zee Kannada restructures management and teams

    MUMBAI: With an aim to improve its position in the south Indian market, Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zeel)  has decided to go in for a restructuring process to ensure better quality on its channel Zee Kannada. In line, a few changes have been made.

     

    Two months ago, the then Zee Kannada business head Gautham Machaiah decided to leave Zeel. His replacement was south cluster sales head Siju Prabhakaran who was elevated to look after the channel too. A new programming head Raghavendra Hunsur was hired from ETV Kannada. The mandate was to spruce up the channel’s shows and ratings.

     

    Sources say that nearly 15 people from the production, programming and operation teams have since been asked to tender their resignations and have been offered a three month severance package. This includes professionals at both head of department level and the second level. They are being replaced with many more professionals who are being handpicked by Hunsur.

     

    Says Zeel head of human resources Rajendra Mehta “Ours being the business of people, we are careful in aligning the organization aspirations with individual capabilities and talents. Therefore, we have taken such an exercise and brought in talent from across the industry and revamped the team. We are sure it will result in building the Kannada business from here on. We remain committed to improving the business performance with realigning to strengthen channel TVMs and marketshare.”

     

    The channel is looking at revamping its look and feel by improving its overall packaging and layout. Also planned are big ticket nonfiction shows in the coming months.

     

    Zee Kannada has been at the number four position in the market with Udaya TV, ETV Kannada and Asianet Suvarna occupying the top three slots.

  • Zee Kannada launches two new shows

    Zee Kannada launches two new shows

    MUMBAI: Starting today, 14 April, one whole hour of primetime slot on Zee Kannada will be replaced with two new shows. As Kannada viewers will be treated to Onde Goodina Hakigalu at 8:00 pm and Sagara Sangama at 8:30 pm.

     

    Onde Goodina Hakigalu will replace Athi Medhura Anuraga and Sagara Sangama will replace Purshottama.

     

    While the former is the story of a broken family with three generations where the female protagonist binds the family, the latter is a love story between two protagonists with different personalities. 

     

    Produced by Jaibhuvi Combines, Onde Goodina Hakigalu is a 260 episode series, of which 10 episodes have already been shot. The commissioned show is being shot at Malleshwaram in Bengaluru in standard definition (SD). It is the first time that the house is creating a show for the channel, and has already bagged Nisargalaya Roop Nisarg as its title sponsor. 

     

    Sagara Sangama has been produced by Ashu Bedra Ventures that has in the past created several other shows for the channel such as Radha Kalyana, Oggarane Dabbi and Baduku Jataka Bandi. This will also be a 260 episode series, the set for which has been put up at Chandra Layout in Bengaluru. Shot is SD, the title sponsor for the new series will be Santoor. 

     

    A huge marketing campaign has been undertaken by the channel to create a buzz for the new shows. Both the series are being promoted together by the channel across mediums. A print ad in newspapers such as Vijay Karnataka (all editions), Prajavani (Bengaluru edition) and Udayavani (Manipal edition) can be seen, starting today. The next two weeks will see promos of the show on Public TV with nearly 30 spots per day along with regular promotion on Zee Kannada.

     

    That apart, 100 hoardings have been bought across the state with 50 in Bengaluru and rest spread across Mysore, Mangalore, Hassan, Davengere, Hubli, Dharwad, Hospete, Raichur, Gadag and Gulbarga, in order to reach out to the audience. Additionally 20 state buses will carry the creatives as well.

     

    Radio spots have been bought in Bengaluru, Mangalore and Mysore with 10 spots per day promoting the two shows together. BTL activity, in the form of leaflet distribution, will also be carried out along with van announcement. The new shows will also feature on the channel’s website and facebook page.

  • Zee Entertainment notches up stellar results in FY 2013

    MUMBAI: The folks at Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (Zeel) have been working with a lot of zeal, it would seem. Especially if one looks at its latest Q4-2013 financials and also its results for the financial year ended 31 March 2013. A big upward tick of 21.6 per cent in its net profit to Rs 718.2 crore on 31 March 2013 over the previous year‘s Rs 591 crore is a hallmark of the Zeel performance.

    As far as its Q4-FY-2013 results were concerned they were in line with various analysts’ bullish expectations. Commanding an astounding 670 million plus viewers worldwide, a scale of operations across 169 countries with 32 channels and over 100,000 hours of programming to its credit, it has maintained its leading position in most of its major business operations including television broadcasting, cable distribution, DTH services etc.

    Says Zeel chairman Subhash Chandra: “FY 2013 was a defining year for the media sector in many ways. The biggest transformation was the implementation of DAS in 42 cities nationally. There were 33 million DTH subscribers and 16 digital cable TV homes as fiscal 2013 ended as against 29 million DTH and 4 million DAS homes in the previous year. We believe we can continue to return meaningful amount of capital even as we strengthen our business and invest in the growth of our businesses. We will continue to pursue growth opportunities which would enhance long term shareholder value.‘

    “DAS phase 2 has been implemented across the country. Industry ARPUs on DTH seem to be growing with exciting consumer offers being provided by operators on premium channel subscriptions,” adds Zeel managing director and chief executive officer Punit Goenka. “We believe similar effort by digital cable operators will ensure a robust growth of the industry for all stakeholders. The improving economic outlook augurs well for the media and entertainment sector. We are hopeful that a steady growth in ratings will help Zee deliver better performance in the coming quarters. Our content focus approach combined with better monetisation of subscription revenues, especailly from digital markets, will contribute to the company delivering steady and sustainable returns in the year ahead.”

    Let us look at the consolidated Q4-2013 financials as against the corresponding Q4-2012

    The Q4-2013 financials report a fair positive trend with the operating revenues for the quarter standing at Rs 964.3 crore, an increase of 11 per cent from the previous year‘s corresponding quarter’s (Q4-2012) which stood at Rs 869 crore. Q4-2013 ad revenues at 479.2 crore are up 15.5 per cent over Q4-2012‘s Rs 415 crore. Subscription revenues have surged to Rs 454.5 crore as against Q4-2012’s Rs 402.1 crore, a 13 per cent increase, courtesy the spread of digitisation and the fact that it was able to draw further benefits of its distribution joint venture with Star India – MediaPro. Of this, domestic subscription revenues rose to Rs 337.4 crore in Q4 2013 (its accounting treatment for MediaPro changed in Q4 2012 hence it says the figures can‘t be compared with Q4 2012). International subscription revenues climbed 11.7 per cent to Rs 117.2 crore in Q4 2013.

    Zeel has managed to tighten the screws on its total expenses, allowing these to rise by only 2.2 per cent over the previous corresponding quarter. As a result, its EBITDA skyrocketed 51 per cent to Rs 242.3 crore as against Rs 160 crore in the last corresponding fiscal quarter. At those numbers, its EBITDA margin is a fat 25.1 per cent. Even its PAT numbers are looking good. They are up 10.7 per cent in Q4-2013to Rs 180.35 crore as against the corresponding last Q4-2012’s Rs 163 crore.

    On the business front, Zeel‘s flagship Zee TV, the flagship Zeel channel had an average of 220 GRPs in Q4 and a 19 per cent market share, and was placed among the top six Hindi GECs.

    As far as its regional language offerings are concerned, all its channels including Zee Marathi, Zee Bangla, Zee Telegu and Zee Kannada have reported good growths in average GRPs.

    While the sports business has yet to breakeven, an improving and promising trend is anticipated with various events and leagues lined up for telecast. The sports business revenues for the quarter stood at Rs 107.2 crore. Dish TV, the largest DTH service provider reported an ARPU of over Rs 159, significantly higher than its peers in the segment.

    Let us look at the consolidated results for FY-2013

    Thanks to the sharp rise in net profit in the full fiscal year and its net margin of 19.4 per cent, its earnings per share (EPS) too climbed up to a handsome Rs 7.51 as against last fiscal’s Rs 6.08.

    Zeel‘s total income for the year to 31 March 2013 (advertising sales and subscription revenues) registered healthy growth with FY-2013’s total revenues standing at Rs 3669.57 crore, up by 19.7 per cent from last year’s Rs 3040.56 crore.

    Its full year domestic subscription revenues were up to Rs 116.48 crore, and international subscription revenues were Rs 458.6 crore, a growth of 26.3 per cent and 14 per cent respectively, over the previous fiscal year‘s revenues. Overall ad revenues for the full year have shown a double digit growth of 24 per cent to Rs 1963.9 crore from the last fiscal’s Rs 1584 crore.

    The YOY expenses have sharply risen 19.4 per cent, with FY-2013’s expenses standing at Rs 2785.18 crore. This increase is majorly contributed by a 21.5 per cent increase in its operating cost and its employee benefit expenses rising over 19 per cent. The latter cost is justified for a conglomerate commanding an employee base of over 2050 employees.

    Zeel‘s EBITDA (operating profit) for the full year FY-2013 stands at Rs 954.3 crore, growing 29 per cent YoY as against Rs 739.6 crore in FY 2012.

    With this fiscal year marking the 20 years of Brand Zee in the industry, the Board has recommended a cash dividend of Rs 2 on a face value of Re 1 per share. In addition to this the board has also announced a distribution Rs 2,000 crore through a bonus issue of redeemable preference shares.

    The company’s share is currently being traded at Rs 241. Many analysts have predicted that the stock will cross Rs 270, as it starts deriving more and more subscription revenues courtesy cable TV digitisation.

    The outlook for the media conglomerate is extremely bright. It has a loyal viewer base for its GEC channels, it has a presence in cable TV through Siticable, then its DTH operation DishTV has a huge subscriber base of 13-14 million. It recently announced it would take a stab at the movies through its subsidiary Zee Motion Pictures which plans a couple of film launches in the near future. In the television space, Zee reported a decent market-share for the full year FY-2013, while revenues significantly poured in from its international operations, especially with the launch of Zee TV across several networks in Canada. Zee TV and Zee Cinema did well in the UAE and were the No 1 TV channel among south Asians for the March 2013 quarter.

    Meanwhile, Zeel’s board has said it would be approaching shareholders to approve its plan to increase the FII investment limit in the company to beyond the existing 49 per cent and to the maximum allowed under the government’s FDI norms for the media sector.

  • Zee News Ltd misses regional GECs, Q4 net shrinks to Rs 28 mn

    Zee News Ltd misses regional GECs, Q4 net shrinks to Rs 28 mn

    MUMBAI: Zee News Limited (ZNL) has posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 28.2 million for the quarter ended 31 March, a 56.9 per cent fall from the year-ago period, as it has learnt to live without its six regional general entertainment channels since 1 January.

    The channels – Zee Marathi, Zee Bangla, Zee Talkies, Zee Telugu, Zee Kannada and Zee Cinemalu – have now been demerged from ZNL and merged into Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel). ZNL now operates Zee News, Zee Business, Zee Punjabi, Zee 24 Taas and Zee Tamil.

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    ZNL’s total consolidated revenues for the three-month period stood at Rs 600.6 million compared to Rs 1.38 billion a year ago

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    Meanwhile, expenses also came down to Rs 561.8 million from Rs 1.18 billion a year ago.

    ZNL chairman Subhash Chandra said, “Zee News Ltd is all set to embark on a new and promising trajectory after the demerger of the company was formally concluded. Our aim is to consolidate our commanding position in the news genre and spread out our wings even further in the regional and national arena. The company is uniquely poised to accrue benefits from the synergies possible from such an arrangement. Resources from across the spectrum of channels will be pooled together and shared, giving us an edge over competition and also immense cost benefits.”

    ZNL CEO Barun Das added, “The demerger will throw up some exciting opportunities as we go ahead. We had leveraged the low cost entry opportunity during the economic recession and are now well placed to grow from here.”

    The company also announced that Zee Akaash News Private Limited – a subsidiary, where ZNL holds 60 per cent stake and operates Bengali news channel 24 Ghanta – has made an operating profit of Rs 50.11 million for the year ended 31 March 2010.

  • ‘We will be the No. 1 distribution company this fiscal’ : Zee Turner chief executive officer Dinesh Jain

    ‘We will be the No. 1 distribution company this fiscal’ : Zee Turner chief executive officer Dinesh Jain

    Zee Turner Ltd, the joint venture distribution company between Zee and Turner, is eyeing a revenue of Rs 10 billion this fiscal on the back of a faster growth from DTH while pay-TV income from cable TV stays strong.

     

    In the earlier fiscal, Zee Turner had clocked Rs 7.5 billion after adding Ten Sports into the bouquet.

     

    Regionalisation will be a big growth driver for Zee Turner. With Zee Telugu and Zee Kannada turning around, the contribution from the southern region is also set to improve.

     

    Adding channels in the bouquet, which has a strong mix of general entertainment, movies and kids content, would form a part of Zee Turner‘s growth strategy. The plan is to have 50 channels within two years.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com‘s Sibabrata Das, Zee Turner Ltd. chief executive officer Dinesh Jain talks about the company‘s bouquet strength across 16 genres, the efforts to fill in the gaps and the next wave of pay-TV revenue growth in a digital environment.

     

    Excerpts:

     
     
    Zee Turner has set an ambitious revenue target of Rs 10 billion this fiscal. Has this growth momentum since the last fiscal been led by the addition of Ten Sports?

    Yes, Ten Sports has contributed but our organic growth has also been significant. I can‘t, though, comment on what our target is. But we expect to get a little under 20 per cent growth from cable TV while revenue from DTH will be at a faster pace. We, after all, have the widest bouquet with 35 channels.

     
     
    But isn’t the weight of the bouquet a weakness in today’s environment where cable TV networks have no bandwidth and charge hefty carriage fees?

    Providing such a wide choice is, in fact, our biggest strength. We have presence across 16 genres and have the maximum number of movie and regional language channels. In the Hindi general entertainment channel space, Zee TV is very powerful. And we have the strongest kids content in Cartoon Network and Pogo. We are a top-of-the-mind bouquet.

     

    Our plan, in fact, is to have 50 channels within the next two years. We may not release all the channels to all parts of the country. But they can be driver channels for the relevant market. We will increase the width and depth of our portfolio.
     

     
    But Zee Turner is still not the largest broadcasting distribution company in terms of revenue?

    Yes, our revenues are not in line with the strength of the bouquet. But we are the fastest growing company today. We will be the No. 1 distribution company this fiscal.
     

     
    Will the new wave of pay-TV revenue growth come from the regional markets?

    Regionalisation is a big thing for us. We have the largest bouquet of regional channels. We have, for instance, big drivers in Zee Marathi and Zee Bangla. News is also becoming regional and in local language. Zee has launched several regional news channels.

     

    We have set up task forces to cater to these regional portfolios. We are connecting the interiors for the regional packages and doing local trade marketing. We see big growth coming from our regional channels.
     

     
    Even in the South, which was a weak link, Zee Turner would be on a stronger wicket with the turnaround of Zee Telugu and Zee Kannada?

    The contribution from the South has increased as our Telugu (Zee Telugu) and Kannada (Zee Kannada) language channels started delivering. But we also had a strong base there due to our English content, led by HBO, Zee Studios and Zee Cafe. We have added WB, the English movie and entertainment channel, this year.

     

    We expect the pay-TV revenues from regional channels to look up, including the South. Zee Marathi, Zee Telugu and Zee Kannada will give us faster growth. We will also be taking our Zee News Uttar Pradesh and Zee Tamil (which will transition increasingly to a news channel) channels pay in the next 6-12 months. This will mean that all the 35 channels in our bouquet will be pay.

     

    Do you still miss the English news genre in the bouquet after CNBC TV18 moved out?

    We do not have channels in genres such as infotainment, travel, English general news and English business news. There are some regional languages where we are also absent. For completing our portfolio, we would be looking at filling such gaps.
     

     ‘Regionalisation is a big thing for us. We have the largest bouquet of regional channels. We have big drivers in Zee Marathi and Zee Bangla. Zee has also launched several regional news channels‘
     

     The government has recently come out with a Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) policy. How do you see this impacting Zee Turner?

    HITS offers another great opportunity for digitisation and addressability. We expect the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to come out with a pricing policy for HITS. As long as the delivery platforms and addressability are similar, the pricing policy should be same.

     
     
    Do you strongly feel that Trai needs to lift the freeze on pricing?

    The freeze in pricing has led to anomalies. Different channels in the same genre are priced differently because they were launched in different dates. The price freeze will not, thus, impact the channels equally.

     

    A case in point is Zee Sports. If Zee Sports is to acquire a cricketing property paying as much as Star Cricket does, it will be at a disadvantage because of the price freeze. Launched later, Star Cricket is priced higher.

     

    Trai, in fact, is looking at revisiting the price freeze issue. Today there is enough competition in the market for channels not to start profiteering from high prices.

     
     Is Zee Sports turning out to be a liability as it is devoid of cricket after failing to bag the BCCI rights?

    No, but then there is definitely an opportunity loss. However, it is overcome by the strength of the bouquet.

     
     
    How is Zee Turner gearing up for the digital environment?

    We are building capabilities for the digital environment – be it IPTV, DTH, cable TV or 3G devices. India will have all models successful because it is such a huge market. We have created vertical heads separately for digital, analogue cable and commercial business 18 months back to bring more focus into these business segments.
     

     
    Do broadcasters see faster growth coming from DTH?

    Cable TV currently accounts for 70 per cent of the broadcasters’ pay-TV revenues. We see the industry settling at an equal ratio between analogue cable and digital platforms within two years.  

     

    Broadcasting distribution companies have entered into joint ventures like Zee Turner, MSM Discovery and Star Den. Is there scope for further consolidation?

    There are still many splinter groups such as Sahara and UTV. At some stage, they may decide to align. We are looking at such opportunities and alliances.
     

     
    Cable networks have been consolidating over the last few years. How do you see this impact broadcasting companies?

    The market is getting matured and organised. Though we are seeing the emergence of bigger MSOs (multi system operators), this will mean that the business is getting more rationalised. Bigger cable companies will look at improving bandwidth. There will be huge upsides – much like the coming together of organised retail helping FMCG companies.
     

    , Zee Studios and Zee Cafe. We have added WB, the English movie and entertainment channel, this year.

     

    We expect the pay-TV revenues from regional channels to look up, including the South. Zee Marathi, Zee Telugu and Zee Kannada will give us faster growth. We will also be taking our Zee News Uttar Pradesh and Zee Tamil (which will transition increasingly to a news channel) channels pay in the next 6-12 months. This will mean that all the 35 channels in our bouquet will be pay.

     

    Do you still miss the English news genre in the bouquet after CNBC TV18 moved out?
    We do not have channels in genres such as infotainment, travel, English general news and English business news. There are some regional languages where we are also absent. For completing our portfolio, we would be looking at filling such gaps.
  • Zee News Ltd bucks trend, posts strong Q3 growth

    Zee News Ltd bucks trend, posts strong Q3 growth

    MUMBAI: Bucking the trend of a slow ad growth, Zee News Limited (ZNL) posted a 45.4 per cent jump in third-quarter revenue over the year-ago period, with regional channels driving the pace.

    Consolidated revenue stood at Rs 1.43 billion for the quarter ended 31 December 2008, sending signals that regional advertisers can come to the rescue of channels that successfully target such audiences.

    Net profit was up 18.38 per cent to Rs 151.27 million for the quarter under review, as ZNL kept costs under control.

    Says Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandra, “Our bouquet composition, aggressive and innovative strategy and an ever cost-conscious approach to business helped us achieve this feat – something seemingly impossible for most other media organisations.”

    ZNL’s advertising revenues grew by 38.8 per cent to Rs 1.12 billion while subscription earnings stood 46.4 per cent up to Rs 236 million for the third quarter of the fiscal.

    ZNL’s standalone net profit stood at Rs 153.71 million, up 19.7 per cent from a year earlier. Revenue was up 45.78 per cent to Rs 1.39 billion for the quarter under review.

    Says Zee News CEO Barun Das, “The existing businesses continued to grow and recorded 23 per cent growth in operating revenues while the same for new businesses was 333.3 per cent. This has helped us outperform the market.”

    Zee Telugu, Zee Kannada, Zee 24 Taas, Zee Tamil, Zee Talkies and Zee 24 Ghantalu (yet to launch), which are considered as ‘New Businesses,’ have incurred an operating loss of Rs 394.83 million during the nine-month period ended 31 December, 2008. The loss on Zee 24 Ghantalu (Telugu news channel) was Rs 9.26 million during the period.

    The company is critically reviewing the performance of its channels and has announced the closure of Zee Gujarati from 30 April. Says Chandra, “While we are strategically expanding our presence, the channels which are not likely to make profit in the near future have been critically reviewed by the company. The board has approved the closure of Zee Gujarati with effect from 30 April, 2009. The forthcoming UP news channel launch will be a key strategic expansion along with other regional proliferation of our products and services.”

    Zee Akaash News Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of ZNL that operates Bengali news channel 24 Ghanta, has incurred an operating loss of Rs 6.96 million during the nine-month period ended 31 December, 2008.