ITV

Tag: Zee management

  • Zee Muzic on revamp mode with best of Bollywood

    Zee Muzic on revamp mode with best of Bollywood

    NEW DELH: Zee Muzic channel is once again in a revamp mode. This time its glossier and positioning itself as an aspirational channel, riding the Hindi film bandwagon in a big way, according to a TV executive.

    The Zee management has taken a decision to position Zee Muzic as an aspirational channel showcasing the best of Bollywood, along with some zany veejays, said Irshwin N Balvani, the music channels business head.

    According to Balvani, SEC A audiences too are being targeted now along with those in SEC B and C in tune with the channels repositioning. The music channel has access to a huge number of Hindi film songs owing to the networks big movie library.

    Speaking to journalists at an event here on Wednesday, organised to unveil an all-new programming line-up, Balvani said that the distribution problem is being addressed very aggressively keeping the ground realities in mind.

    If the all-India market share of Zee Muzic is to be seen, then it would be in the region of 65 per cent, but easy visibility is an issue because of lack of adequate bandwidth with cable operators everywhere.In some pockets of the country the channel is very strong, while in some others its not on tunable bandwidth at all, he explained, adding that in Chennai, for example, because of conditional access the music channel has almost 100 per cent presence in cable homes.

    According to information available with Indiantelevision.com, the Zee management has given the music channel managers approximately nine months to turn around the channel into a decent competition for the likes of MTV and Channel V, both of which have big groups backing it.

    Of course, there is competition and we must strategise accordingly, but to say Zee Muzic is a forgotten product would be wrong, said Balvani, whos been brought in from Zoom TV after Pradeep Guha (a Times of India group strongman) took over as the CEO of Zee Telefilms some time back.

    So, what does the new line-up at Zee Muzic look like? Its certainly packaged well with lots of gloss, loads of Bollywood and increased interactivity.

    Model-turned-TV anchor Nina Manuel, model Aparna Kumar, Roshni Chopra , Mayank Anand and actor-singer Vikas Bhalla form the hip anchors of Zee Muzic.

    Nina, who could also be seen on some other channels like NDTV 24×7, hosts Midnite Manual, Aparna is the presenter for Bollywood Tonight, while self confessed movie buff Roshni anchors Cinemascope. Vikas hosts Bollywood This Week and Mayank will be the anchor for the soon-to-be-launched Cine Song.

    Zee Muzic is a 24-hour free-to-air music channel from the Zee stable. The channel is available in places like Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Fiji, Hong King, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Japan, Maldives, Thailand and the Middle East. A separate beam of Zee Muzic is also available in the UK and the US.

  • Zee results confirm robust business model: Merrill Lynch

    MUMBAI: The Merrill Lynch report dated 28 April 2003 states that the Zee’s 4QFY03 result reinforces the analysts’ confidence in Zee’s business model. However, the report adds that the delay in return of advances given to Buddha Films and likely investment in Essel group’s DTH venture (up to maximum of 20 per cent limit) remain a concern.
    The Merrill Lynch report still maintains a “BUY rating on the Zee stock based on:
    1. Attractive valuations at 10x FY04E EPS vs the Asian (ex-Australia) average of 16x.
    2. Rise in subscription revenues driving Zee’s leading earnings growth in the global sector (20 per cent YoY) during these challenging years.
    3. Recent stock underperformance; and
    4. Improvement in the balance sheet.
    The following are some relevant excerpts from the report:
    * Zee delivered 52 per cent YoY growth in recurring PAT (excl. earlier period PAT of Rs 20 million for subsidiary, Padmalaya and Rs 386 million extraordinary write-off), to Rs 800 million in tough times.
    * Importantly, Zee turned cash flow positive and this led the company to repay term debt of Rs 1.13 billion. Net debt at end-FY03 was Rs 5.9 billion – down 11 per cent YoY. This was aided by recovery from debtors (170 days in FY03 vs 213 in FY02) and should address market’s liquidity concerns.
    * Sales grew 17 per cent YoY. A 16 per cent YoY fall in ad revenues led by the World Cup on competing channels was more than offset by 54 per cent YoY growth in global subscription revenues and consolidation of film subsidiary, Padmalaya.
    * Ignoring changes in the base (4Q FY02) made by the company to match unaudited nos. with audited FY02 results, Merrill Lynch analysts estimate that the 4Q recurring PAT grew 33 per cent YoY in a tough quarter.
    * The report mentions that the debtor days were further reduced to 155 in May 2003 according to the Zee management. This could lead to repayment of another Rs 1 billion of loans in 1Q FY04, adds the report.
    * The report says that the Zee management claimed its readiness to supply a digital set-top box at Rs 3,500/pc (US$74) on the conditional access system (CAS).
    * The report says that the key risk is the company’s ability to increase penetration of Zee Turner in domestic pay markets and maintain the creative execution of the broadcasting business.