Tag: Zee Media

  • Zee Media introduces campaign ‘My Earth My Duty’

    Zee Media introduces campaign ‘My Earth My Duty’

    MUMBAI: True to its commitment towards mother earth, Zee Media Corporation ZMCL) is going forward with fifth edition of its Campaign ‘My Earth My Duty’ (MEMD) beginning 1 August 2014.  The campaign addresses the issue of further degradation of environment, which is vital for our very existence.  It is aimed at sensitizing and encouraging people to take concrete actions towards mitigating the effects of Climate Change and Environmental Degradation.  The objective of the campaign this year is to plant at least 10 Lacs saplings across the country involving citizens from all walks of life including children, women and senior citizens.

     

    MEMD campaign by ZMCL comes in the wake of rising concern about continuous environmental degradation and its adverse impact on entire human kind. It is a clarion call to everyone for joining hands to protect our beloved mother earth.

     

    To amplify the campaign’s message, Zee Media will utilize its pan India strength (bouquet of national & regional channels in 5 different languages) to full capacity. Innovatively packaged, the campaign invites viewers to give a missed call at 08882457575 to register themselves, following which they are to choose how they can contribute their part towards saving mother earth.  These could be Plant A Tree, Adopt A Tree and Option 3 – Others (activities such as car pooling, switching off lights, saving water etc. can be adopted). Participants could log on the website zeenews.com/myearth to know more on the activities.

     

    “This is the fifth consecutive year that ZMCL is organizing the campaign. This shows the commitment and dedication of the entire team at Zee in making our mother earth a better place to live as we cannot afford any further degradation of our mother earth and environment,” said Zee Media Corporation group CEO Bhaskar Das.

     

    In the last decade or so, the country has registered phenomenal economic growth; the consequences of which have been felt drastically on the nature. The growth has taken a toll in form of depletion of natural resources, decrease in green areas and alarming rise in pollution levels. Realising a need for course correction, Zee Media in the year 2010 initiated the very first drive of its kind, ‘My Earth My Duty’ to address the issue of environmental degradation.

     “If we do not address the issue of environment degradation now, it may be too late and our future might be worse than we can even imagine. I feel all of us should become part of the noble campaign and see how best we can work in tandem to retain the beauty that still remains for us to enjoy,” said  Zee Media CEO Samir Ahluwalia.

     

    In a short span of five years, the campaign has been established as India’s biggest environmental awareness initiative. ‘My Earth My Duty’ has found support from the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports since its very inception. The uniqueness of the campaign has found resonance even within the allied forces, such as Para- Military forces such as ITBP, CISF, CRPF, BSF, ARMY SCHOOL and ETF who have stepped in to be a part of the process.

     

    Talking on the expectation from the campaign this year, Zee Media VP marketing Rohit Kumar said, “This year’s campaign becomes very significant as we have scaled it up to a new level. By involving key opinion leaders, regulators, Govt bodies, families, friends, we expect the campaign to spark off a big debate about saving environment we all live in! Zee Media is confident that the campaign will have huge participation and involvement from all walks of life and will go a long way in creating a positive as well as healthy environment.” 

     

    Let us join hands together for making the massive campaign ‘My Earth My Duty’ a grand success and each of us should endeavour to become a Green Citizen.

  • More Network18 senior management to exit as Reliance begins to take full control

    More Network18 senior management to exit as Reliance begins to take full control

    MUMBAI: Black Wednesday. Network18 employees must be quite bewildered by the happenings of 28 May 2014. First came the announcement that group CEO B. Sai Kumar had decided to call it a day after 14 years of nurturing and growing it along with Raghav Bahl and Haresh Chawla. Then came the news that even COO Ajay Chacko had decided to bolt for the door.

     

    But this is just the tip of the iceberg, according to sources. Apparently, a senior management exodus is likely to hit the group over the next few days.  The group today issued a release  on the BSE stating that CFO RDS  Binni Bawa has already tendered in his resignation.  Among those who are tipped to follow  include : senior vice-president corporate affairs and company secretary Anil Srivastava and group general  counsel Kshipra Jatana. 

     

    Their departure is a precursor to the biggest announcement that is likely to come out: that of the exit of founding/controlling shareholder & managing director Raghav Bahl.

     

    Whether leading journalists like Rajdeep Sardesai, Sagarika Ghose, Senthil Chengalvaryan, Sheeren Bhan, amongst others would quit  the Network18 group or not is not known at the time of writing. Though speculation is running rife that this will also come to pass in the next few days.  However, insiders insist that Sardesai is believed to have assured the team of CNNIBN journalists at an internal meeting at CNNIBN a couple of days ago that “he would be staying and that things are only going to get better from now on.”

     

    No one from the company was available for comment, despite several attempts by indiantelevision.com journalists.

     

    Apparently, the entire exercise is part of Reliance Industries getting into the driver’s seat at the Network18 group. The former is likely to make an announcement to buy out Raghav Bahl’s equity stake, followed by a offer to the public, in order to take a controlling stake in Network18

     

    Says a media observer: “These changes are happening at a time when Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL)  has in recent times plumped up on media heavyweight media executives. It has lured away Zee Media Corp Ltd CEO Alok  Agrawal, senior journalists Gautam Chikermane, BV Rao and Rohit Bansal. Speculation is that this exodus is taking place as a precursor to Reliance taking over the management and control  of the group.”

     

    No one from Reliance Industries was also available for comment either, at the time of filing this report. Spokesperson Tushar Pania said he would send a formal statement as soon as possible. 

     

    It may be recollected that Bahl had sought the help of RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani to bail out Network18 when its debt had ballooned beyond manageable proportions a couple of years ago. Ambani had extended a loan through a trust to Bahl’s companies that held the Network18 stake. That loan was used to pare down the group’s debt and also acquire the ETV channels. But it also left open the door for Ambani to wholly take over the Network18 group at a  later stage, though the commitment had been made that Bahl and the team would be left alone to manage it.

     

    Sources indicate that RIL has been pushing  Bahl to cede control of the management over the past few months and he seems to have finally consented. 

     

    (updated on 30 May 8 am)

  • Jitesh Rajdeo quits Zee Media

    Jitesh Rajdeo quits Zee Media

    MUMBAI: After dedicating 14 years to the company, Zee Media chief sales officer Jitesh Rajdeo has decided to move on. He is currently serving his notice period and according to sources his next stop will be Amagi Media.

     

    Rajdeo took over the role of chief sales officer in February last year for the entire bouquet of Zee News, Zee Business, Zee 24 Taas, Zee News UP, Zee News Punjabi and Zee 24 Ghanta. Prior to this, he was the chief revenue officer at DNA. 

     

    He has worked at various places including Mukta Advertising, Asian Age newspaper, Modi Entertainment Network and Multichannel India.

  • Zee 24 Taas gets election ready

    Zee 24 Taas gets election ready

    MUMBAI: With election fever having gripped the nation, television channels, even the regional ones, are jumping into the fray.

    One such is Zee Media Corporation’s Marathi news channel, Zee 24 Taas, which has launched a slew of election-related programmes ahead of the polls.

    Of these, Election Express, airs at 10:30 pm, and is an on-ground show with a three-camera set-up, where journalists talk to candidates and voters in various constituencies. Whatsup India is a youth show with a two-camera set-up whereas Hava Maharashtrachi has one OB van accompanying it and evaluates the mood of voters in various parliamentary constituencies of the state. Ran Sangram, Audit Matadarsanghache, Agenda Maharashtracha and Gennext are some of the other new shows.

    Zee 24 Taas business head Bhushan Khot says, “Right now, we have 50 per cent of election news and the rest is general news. On the days of polling in Maharashtra (10, 17 and 24 March) and on counting day (16 May), we will have all-day election news.”

    Experts have been roped in on the four crucial days. Ad rates too have been hiked to double the amount, and sources say it could be near Rs 2000 for a 10 second slot on the counting day. Among the sponsors on-board are Gujarat Ambuja, V Guard and Shakti Pump.

    Forty to fifty stringers and videographers will cover all 48 constituencies of Maharashtra, including Vidharba, Amravati, Nagpur, Marathwada, Latur, Aurangabad, Pune, Solapur, Nashik, Kolhapur, Satara, Thane and Mumbai. In some cases, stringers will take on the job of reporting as well as shooting videos.

    Zee 24 Taas says being a regional channel, its focus on elections will not be as sharp as say a national channel, at least this time. However, when the state goes to polls in September later this year, the channel will have full-fledged election programming.

  • Zee Sangam drops TEN format; to be national news channel

    Zee Sangam drops TEN format; to be national news channel

    MUMBAI: The Zee group has a reputation for reinventing itself from time to time.

     

    The latest is Zee Media Corporation’s flagship news channel, Zee News, is all set to get a cousin in the newly-rebranded Zee Sangam, which will be a national channel 16 April onwards. Before this, Zee Sangam was called Zee UP/Uttarakhand.

     

    The new-look Zee Sangam will air 40 per cent news from Uttar Pradesh with the remaining news from the rest of the nation including regional stories. 

     

     When contacted, Zee Media CEO Alok Agrawal confirmed that the channel has decided to drop the Terrestrial Entertainment Network (TEN) format that it had wanted to give to Sangam and has now embarked on making it a national channel.

     

     The differentiating factor between Zee News and Zee Sangam is that while the flagship channel will focus on news from the globe, Sangam will be regional-focused with a national perspective. Since the channel is known in Uttar Pradesh, the focus will be on stories from UP. Operating out of Noida, Vasindra Mishra will be the editor and Vinod Das the business head of the channel.

     

     Currently, the network is lining up the various programmes and beefing up on manpower as well as distribution. The channel will be available on all leading cable TV and direct to home (DTH) platforms in Mumbai and Delhi and other parts of the country. 

  • Zee Media brings DNA under its fold

    Zee Media brings DNA under its fold

    MUMBAI: It was in early 2012 that the Subhash Chandra owned company Essel Group bought out its Joint Venture (JV) partner D B Corp’s 50 per cent stake in the English national newspaper DNA, cementing the media baron’s presence in the print media. Now, it has taken a long leap again. In a recent announcement to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL) announced its intention to venture into the print media business with the amalgamation of Essel Publishers that brings out DNA and itself.

     

    Following a postal ballot held between 30 October and 28 November, 95.46 per cent or 652 people out of 683 shareholders were in favour of the amalgamation.

     

    “Having already built a nationwide largest television news network with its varied news channels, with an object of creating a news powerhouse in the country, Zee Media aspires to expand its product offering across multiple platforms, regions and languages,” read the document to investors on the amalgamation scheme.

     

    And it was in keeping with Zee group chairman Subhash Chandra statement in a release a while ago that the company is on a mission to consolidate its broadcast, print and internet content under one umbrella.

     

    According to ZMCL CEO Alok Agrawal, the merger process has just begun and will take a year to complete. And the net result (says the document sent out to shareholders following which they gave the fusing of the two firms the nod) will be that : “Zee Media will be in a position to leverage the combined network of resources, working in an integrated newsroom through multiple platforms as well as providing a bouquet of services to advertisers which would strengthen its market reach.”

     

    “Stories will be shared across the two mediums thus allowing English, Hindi and other regional languages to benefit from each other,” says Agrawal. With this move, ZMCL employees will be also be multi-tasking just like in other efficiently run media organisations the world over.

     

    At the same time, it means additional work as well. “Employees will get cross exposure now. Those who accept the challenge will prosper and those who don’t will falter. That’s the law of the land,” remarks Agrawal.

     

    Since 2009, the management of DNA has been handled by the Essel Group with Malcolm Mistry as the current CEO. The integrated newsroom will take some time to evolve. Initially, the focus will be on evaluating the requirement for separate offices for the two media entities, consolidating the teams wherever possible in various cities nationally, and in the process generate savings.

     

    ZMCL has its eye set firmly on expanding DNA by launching new editions in newer towns in phases. DNA is currently published from Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Indore and Bengaluru. Delhi would be the next target;however, Agrawal says it will take some time as Delhi is a very competitive market with The Times of India and The Hindustan Times fiercely battling each other.

     

    According to the Indian Readership Survey 2012 Q4 topline findings the circulation of DNA was 972, 000. The number may well have gone up significantly since then.

     

    Was it easy to convince shareholders about the expansion plans? “The overwhelming response we got was surely a bit of a surprise but they saw the good opportunity. As a TV channel, our reach was limited and the amalgamation makes it more holistic and well rounded,” explains Agrawal. ZMCL claims that its bouquet of six channels in the news space reach out around 130 million viewers.

     

    The deal proposed to shareholders was that for every 11 shares of Re 1 each held in Essel Publishers, 2 shares of Re 1 each from ZMCL would be issued and allotted. But no shares would be given for fractional entitlements. Post the announcement, the market value of ZMCL’s share saw a spike and at the time of filing this report it was quoting at Rs 14.04 on the BSE.

     

    The authorised share capital of Essel Publishers and ZMCL put together has been enhanced to Rs 170 crore with Rs 70 crore from Essel Publishers and Rs !00 crore from ZMCL.

     

    The amalgamation scheme became effective from 3 December and thus Essel Publishers now stands dissolved without being wound up. And all the newspaper staff have henceforth become ZMCL employees.

     

    ZMCL’s financial result for Q2 2014 showed that advertising and subscription revenues were higher than the previous quarter. Total revenue for Q2 2014 was Rs 160.7 crore with ad revenue at Rs 52.92 crore and subscription revenue at Rs 24.9 crore. PAT stood at Rs 2.8 crore while EBIDTA stood at Rs 74.8 crore.

  • Zee Media launches 5th edition of its much awarded Voter Awareness Program

    Zee Media launches 5th edition of its much awarded Voter Awareness Program

    NEW DELHI: Zee Media is launching its fifth edition of the much acclaimed and much awarded voter awareness initiative Aapka Vote Aapki Taqat (AVAT) keeping in view the upcoming assembly elections in five states and national election next year from 15th November, starting from Korba in Chhattisgarh.

    The initiative AVAT aims at encouraging voters to participate in electoral process, and addreses the issue of decreasing voter percentage. The objective of rolling out the initiative is to make India a successful democracy. The Election Commission of India too acknowledged the initiative and lends its support since the inception of the initiative in 2009.

    The Campaign creates awareness about the importance of voting and to sensitize voters to ensure a responsible and accountable government is in place. AVAT encourages first time voters to register and participate in upcoming assembly and National elections.

    Under Aapka Vote Aapki Taqat, various awareness ground events will be conducted in four states i.e., Delhi, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh to facilitate direct interaction with the target group and encourage voter participation. A 360 degree multi-media promotion of the campaign across TV, Print, Radio etc will further raise awareness and cover maximum audience. Through Social media platform, youth will be targeted and encouraged for registration and participation. Dedicated micro-site will serve as a platform to interact and empower people with requisite information where people can share their concerns for not voting.

    This year Aapka Vote Aapki Taqat will launch an online service ‘Know Your Candidate’, which will provide key details about the candidates vying for the votes in various constituencies.

    Zee Media Corporation Ltd. has been emphasizing on this initiative in various states where Elections has been announced since the series started in 2009. Aapka Vote Aapki Taqat has been recognized by Limca Book of Records as India’s Biggest Voter Awareness Campaign, supported by Election Commission of India and has emerged as the most impactful campaign of all media campaigns. In 2013, Aapka Vote Aapki Taqat won the National Award by Election Commission of India.

    On the occasion, Rohit Kumar, Marketing Head, Zee Media, said, “Zee Media Corporation Ltd. has been consistently trying to create voter awareness, which in turn will increase voter percentage. Convincing young voters will ensure to bring honest, effective and stable government. Zee Media always believes that to change a system one needs to be a part of the system. The Campaign has been successful in reaching the grass roots of the country, and also to mobilize the youth of India in association with various youth influential organizations.”
    About Zee Media Corporation Ltd:

    Zee Media Corporation Ltd., the largest News Network in India, has a unique cluster of news, current affairs and regional news channels under the banner, including Zee News, Zee Business, Zee Punjab Haryana Himachal, Zee 24 Taas, Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhatisgarh, Zee Uttar Pradesh Uttrakahand, 24 Ghanta, Zee 24 Ghantalu & Zee Rajasthan. The Media powerhouse has comprehensive and more options for the new age news consumer through Zeenews.com – which is one of the fastest growing news websites in India as per Comscore Direct, Google Analytics and has strong social media presence, not only in India but across the globe as well. As a responsible media house, the network has been committed to serve the nation, not only by providing relevant and quality news, but also by highlighting issues of national significance and addressing them regularly. For further details please visit: http://zeenews.india.com

  • Zee Media to launch ‘I Am IN’

    Zee Media to launch ‘I Am IN’

    MUMBAI: Good governance begins with active citizens seeking accountability from their chosen representatives at every level – from the Parliament to the legislative assembly, from the local corporation to the graam panchayat.

    People who feel passionately about local issues and want to do something about it, then ‘I Am IN’ is a destination for you. ‘I Am IN – dna of India’ is a technology enabled initiative, that promises to enlighten, engage and empower citizens of India in getting involved in the cause for better governance. It gives power to the people to be vocal about local issues, to report news, connect with governance representatives and like-minded fellow citizens and more.

    ‘I Am IN’, is India‘s first multilingual, hyper-local, pan-India digital platform that encompasses – (over the next few months) – over 500 local circles and neighbourhoods across the country, enabling people to subscribe to and engage with, others in their locality.

    The digital platform aims at strengthening the DNA of India to influence better governance. People can join as either a volunteer for their locality / neighbourhood and be the face of the community, or be an active citizen by signing up, staying informed and helping the community find solutions to problems.

    The hunt to find volunteers for around 200 localities / neighborhoods that the platform is launching with, has already begun. Those interested need to give a citizen DNA test, prove why they deserve to be a volunteer and demonstrate the passion to be one.

    Zee Media chairman Subhash Chandra exults: “I believe in India, and I have faith in the ability of my fellow citizens to make India a better country. We keep complaining about India, we keep saying we don’t know what to do and how to do it. We try to look at the big picture, not realising that it is made up of smaller problems. Solve the smaller problems and the big problem will be solved.”

    He further goes on to say that the change in India has to be ground up, and what we aim to do is to empower and enable Indians to do just that. He adds: “Gandhiji said “be the change you want to see in society”, today with the launch of ‘I Am In – dna of India’ we hope that can be achieved, enabled by technology and powered by the desire of 1.2 billion plus Indians who want a better tomorrow.”

    Zee Media group CEO Bhaskar Das says: “Today, in India, we see a lot of energy. A desire to do ‘something’ more for the country’. If that energy is not tapped, that desire to do ‘something’ not see outcome – then it is easy to become despondent and negative. It is this spiral into negativity that needs to be avoided and it can be done by harnessing the power of good intention.”

    “‘I am IN – DNA of India’ is an initiative that taps into the desire of Indians across the length and breadth of the country who want to live in a better, cleaner, safer locality/neighbourhood.  The power of hundreds of hyper local networks, each made of thousands of people, all of who act in a focused manner to improve their locality can surely bring the much needed qualitative change in our country,” he rounds off.

  • Zee Media launches unique crime show

    Zee Media launches unique crime show

    NEW DELHI: Crime Reporter, a new series dealing with crime cases, is being released by Zee Media.

    Naveen Kumar, a seasoned investigative journalist would take the mantle of anchoring this show.

    The new show is unique in its own way as it not only highlights the crime stories but also educates the audience and creates awareness on how to fight back crime.

    Crime Reporter will be featured on Zee News, Zee Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand and Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh from Monday to Friday at 11.00 pm and on Zee Rajasthan Plus at 11:30 pm.

    Crime Reporter will showcase real crime stories without sensationalising it and focusing more to create awareness amongst viewers.

  • Zeel elevates Manoj Padmanabhan to business head – new media

    Zeel elevates Manoj Padmanabhan to business head – new media

    MUMBAI: With the sudden exit of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) digital operations business head Vishal Malhotra, the broadcaster has found a replacement in Manoj Padmanabhan, who was senior vice-president marketing (digital) and sales (new media) for the past year.

     

    Manoj will now be heading all the digital operations under Zee Media including Essel group’s OTT platform Ditto TV.

     

    Padmanabhan’s professional interests include digital marketing, marketing strategy, brand management and product marketing.

     

    Padmanabhan started his career at Sansui India in 1997 as the senior marketing manager where he worked for eight years. He then moved on to Tata Communications as DGM – marketing and head of alliances and partner relation where he spent more than two years, before moving on to work with the Zee Network.

     

    At Zee Network he started his stint in 2007, he worked in the capacity of vice president – marketing (digital) for more than five years.