ITV

Tag: Zee News

  • Delhi magistrate quashes police chargesheet; orders re-investigation into Zee News officials

    Delhi magistrate quashes police chargesheet; orders re-investigation into Zee News officials

    NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Amit Bansal yesterday refused to take cognizance of the charge sheet filed by Delhi Police against Zee News Officials relating to the case against the officials of Zee News by Jindal Steel’s Navin Jindal, MP.

    The CMM returned the chargesheet and ordered the Delhi Police to investigate the matter once again.  He also ordered that the investigation this time should be carried out by an officer of the Delhi Police no less than the rank of Asst Commissioner of Police.

    This followed serious objections and pleas on facts raised by Zee News Counsel Vijay Aggrawal, who decribed the case as false and concocted.

    Aggrawal said, “We have no doubt that if the matter is investigated fairly, it is the complainants who will be prosecuted.”
    The CMM has ordered Delhi Police to report back on 2 December, 2013.

  • News X strengthens leadership with new hires

    News X strengthens leadership with new hires

    MUMBAI-NewsX, India’s new news leader has augmented its leadership team with a number of key appointments to consolidate its position for future growth.

    The channel, now India’s leading English news channel with a consistent performance of being a market leader over the last 17 weeks has some aggressive growth plans and the addition of fresh talent is in line with the same.

    Rahul Shivshankar, executive editor and a renowned anchor on Headlines Today, has joined as the managing editor with NewsX. Diptosh Majumdar, ex-National affairs editor with CNN-IBN, also joins the team in the same capacity. To augment channel’s business operations, Raktim Das, erstwhile Business Head and Senior Vice President at Zee News Limited has joined as President. Shivshankar, a celebrated name in the news fraternity, has been associated with brands like Times Now, and Headlines Today in the past. Majumdar joins in from DNA. Prior to DNA, he was a senior editorial resource with CNN-IBN.

    Das, comes with an exhaustive experience in the media space spanning newspaper, magazine and television. As part of his new mandate, he’ll be responsible for brand development and exploring new avenues of revenue generation. He has earlier worked with brands like India Today, Times of India and Zee News.

    Kartikeya Sharma, MD, ITV Network said in an official communiqué “We are delighted to induct seasoned talent on board at this important juncture, and we are confident that their experience and understanding of the business will help us to achieve our objective of sustaining the leadership in the genre, and will set new benchmarks in Indian news television.”

  • Zee’s new talk show ‘Wheel of Life’ will be aired on 5 of its channels

    Zee’s new talk show ‘Wheel of Life’ will be aired on 5 of its channels

    NEW DELHI: For the first time in its history, Zee TV has commenced telecast of a series which is being shown on five of its channels of which two are beamed overseas.

     

    The 26-episode ‘Wheel of Life’ talk show is based on the book of that name by senior Uttar Pradesh Indian Administrative Service officer R K Singh.

     

    The half-hour programme has been conceived by Sonorous Knowledge Trust and Shirdi Sai Baba Foundation headed by entrepreneur and TV personality Aushim Khetrapal.

     

    It is being beamed at 6.30 am on Sundays on Zee News, 8.30 am on Saturdays on Zee Business, 1.30 am on Saturdays on Zee UP, and on Zee American and Zee Dubai on their general entertainment channels at 8.00 am on Friday and Sunday mornings.

     

    With the theme song and music by Shankar Mahadevan, the series is anchored by Amrita Raichand.

     

    Cosmology, genetics and quantum physics, and knowledge of spirituality are the base of the show, which Singh said at a press meet, has been inspired by the Upanishads and also the religious texts of all religions. However, he stressed that it was not a programme about religion or spirituality and was based more on understanding the value of life.

     

    Answering a question, he said the Big Bang theory which was referred to in the series was not something that had come from the west, but had been talked of by Indian sages even up to the eleventh century.

     

    Khetrapal told indiantelevision.com that the series was presently sponsored by Natural Essence among others and had reached a TRP of 0.4 in the third episode on Zee Business.

     

    He said he had conceived the series around three years earlier when he had met Singh in UP, but the latter had to get permission from the state government for appearing on television.

     

    Singh said he had begun by scribbling some notings based on his reading of the Upanishads in 1996 and it was only in 1999 that he began writing the book, which was published in the United States in 2005.

     

    He had attempted to show in the series that humans were only seized with a contemporary attitude to life and were like automatons, whereas the purpose of human life was much deeper and it was necessary to understand this.

     

    Referring to marketing of the show, Khetrapal said it was clearly not the kind of show that would pick up through promos and therefore the social media and word of mouth publicity was the best way to spread the message. But he said that several thousand calls were received almost on a daily basis. Around 25,000 mails had been received by each of the five channels.

     

    Later, pamphlets and e-mailers would be sent and road shows held to popularise the show, he added.

     

  • ZMCL reports 112 per cent PAT growth in Q1-2014 compared to Q1-2013

    ZMCL reports 112 per cent PAT growth in Q1-2014 compared to Q1-2013

    BENGALURU: Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL), formerly Zee News Limited announced good growth figures for Q1-2014 as compared to Q1-2013, but middling to flat and lower results when compared to the previous quarter Q4-2013. The Company owns and operates seven news/current affairs and regional language channels, namely Zee News, Zee Business, Zee 24 Taas, Zee 24 Gantalu, Zee Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand, Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh and Zee Punjab Haryana Himachal.

     

    Let us take a look at the Q1-2014 figures

     

    ZMCL reported more than doubling of PAT (112 per cent) to Rs 8.51 crore in Q1-2014 as compared to PAT of Rs 4.01 crore in Q1-2013 and a 6.1 per cent growth as compared to Q4-2013.

     

    Operating revenues grew 12.2 per cent (y-o-y) to Rs 77.68 crore in Q1-2014 as compared to Rs 68.88 crore reported in Q1-2013. However, ZMCL’s operating revenues for Q1-2014 were 1.7 per cent lower than the Rs 79.04 crore reported for Q4-2013. Income from operations at Rs 70.2 crore in Q1-2014 grew 16.4 per cent from Rs 60.286 crore in Q1-2013.

     

    Advertising revenues which constituted 68.1 per cent of the total revenues for Q1-2014 grew 14.2 per cent (y-o-y) to Rs 52.9 crore as compared to Rs 46.32 crore (67.2 per cent of total revenues for the quarter) in Q1-2013 and were up 1.4 per cent as compared to the Rs 52.19 crore (66 per cent of the total revenues for the quarter) reported in Q4-2013.

     

    Subscription revenues in Q1-2014 also grew, albeit at a higher rate of 19.3 per cent to Rs 21 crore (27 per cent of the total revenues for the quarter) as compared to the Rs 17.6 crore (25.6 per cent of the total revenues for the quarter) reported for Q1-2013, but were 5.4 per cent lower than the Rs 22.2 crore (28.1 per cent of total revenues for the quarter) ZMCL reported for Q4-2013.

     

    Other sales and services saw a drop of 23.2 per cent to Rs 3.78 crore in Q1-2014 from Rs 4.96 crore reported in Q1-2013 and were 19.2 per cent lower than the Rs 4.68 crore for Q4-2013.

     

    In Q1-2014, total expenses saw a small jump of 7.6 per cent to Rs 68.37 crore from the Rs 63.55 crore reported in Q1-2013 and were 8.1 per cent lower than the Rs 74.4 crore for Q4-2013.

     

    ZMCL director Punit Goenka said, “Our ambition to reach deeper into the lives of our viewers has led us to change our name from Zee News Limited to Zee Media Corporation Limited. We will continue to pursue growth in the untapped regions of our country and provide them with varied news, infotainment and entertainment content across delivery platforms. Apart from the latest launch of Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh, we have also launched Zee Rajasthan recently. The channel has content for all facets of the viewer from Rajasthan, be it crisper local news bulletins, entertainment programmes reflecting the typical lifestyle or discussions on issues related to the common Rajasthani man.”

     

    ZMCL whole-time director Alok Agrawal said, “Even as we are aggressively expanding our regional channel bouquet, we have not left sight of our current deliverables. We have made efforts to squeeze even more efficiency out of our operations and have restricted increase of various costs. On the other hand, both Advertising and Subscription Revenues have shown an increase over the last year. We have taken special initiatives related to the content which are expected to yield results in the coming quarters.”

  • ZMCL reports 112 per cent PAT growth in Q1-2014 compared to Q1-2013

    BENGALURU: Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL), formerly Zee News Limited announced good growth figures for Q1-2014 as compared to Q1-2013, but middling to flat and lower results when compared to the previous quarter Q4-2013. The Company owns and operates seven news/current affairs and regional language channels, namely Zee News, Zee Business, Zee 24 Taas, Zee 24 Gantalu, Zee Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand, Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh and Zee Punjab Haryana Himachal.

    Let us take a look at the Q1-2014 figures

    ZMCL reported more than doubling of PAT (112 per cent) to Rs 8.51 crore in Q1-2014 as compared to PAT of Rs 4.01 crore in Q1-2013 and a 6.1 per cent growth as compared to Q4-2013.

    Operating revenues grew 12.2 per cent (y-o-y) to Rs 77.68 crore in Q1-2014 as compared to Rs 68.88 crore reported in Q1-2013. However, ZMCL‘s operating revenues for Q1-2014 were 1.7 per cent lower than the Rs 79.04 crore reported for Q4-2013. Income from operations at Rs 70.2 crore in Q1-2014 grew 16.4 per cent from Rs 60.286 crore in Q1-2013.

    Advertising revenues which constituted 68.1 per cent of the total revenues for Q1-2014 grew 14.2 per cent (y-o-y) to Rs 52.9 crore as compared to Rs 46.32 crore (67.2 per cent of total revenues for the quarter) in Q1-2013 and were up 1.4 per cent as compared to the Rs 52.19 crore (66 per cent of the total revenues for the quarter) reported in Q4-2013.

    Subscription revenues in Q1-2014 also grew, albeit at a higher rate of 19.3 per cent to Rs 21 crore (27 per cent of the total revenues for the quarter) as compared to the Rs 17.6 crore (25.6 per cent of the total revenues for the quarter) reported for Q1-2013, but were 5.4 per cent lower than the Rs 22.2 crore (28.1 per cent of total revenues for the quarter) ZMCL reported for Q4-2013.

    Other sales and services saw a drop of 23.2 per cent to Rs 3.78 crore in Q1-2014 from Rs 4.96 crore reported in Q1-2013 and were 19.2 per cent lower than the Rs 4.68 crore for Q4-2013.

    In Q1-2014, total expenses saw a small jump of 7.6 per cent to Rs 68.37 crore from the Rs 63.55 crore reported in Q1-2013 and were 8.1 per cent lower than the Rs 74.4 crore for Q4-2013.

    ZMCL director Punit Goenka said, “Our ambition to reach deeper into the lives of our viewers has led us to change our name from Zee News Limited to Zee Media Corporation Limited. We will continue to pursue growth in the untapped regions of our country and provide them with varied news, infotainment and entertainment content across delivery platforms. Apart from the latest launch of Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh, we have also launched Zee Rajasthan recently. The channel has content for all facets of the viewer from Rajasthan, be it crisper local news bulletins, entertainment programmes reflecting the typical lifestyle or discussions on issues related to the common Rajasthani man.”

    ZMCL whole-time director Alok Agrawal said, “Even as we are aggressively expanding our regional channel bouquet, we have not left sight of our current deliverables. We have made efforts to squeeze even more efficiency out of our operations and have restricted increase of various costs. On the other hand, both Advertising and Subscription Revenues have shown an increase over the last year. We have taken special initiatives related to the content which are expected to yield results in the coming quarters.”

  • Zee News sees improvement in profits in FY 2013 financials

    Zee News sees improvement in profits in FY 2013 financials

    MUMBAI: By the time Zee News Ltd announces its financials this time next year, it could well be sporting a new name Zee Media Corp. It could well also have merged its news broadcasting business with Essel group publication DNA as proposed by its board (see Zee News-DNA: merger on the cards?). Additionally, it could well also have news and infotainment channels in Rajasthan and Bihar/Jharkhand on air (it plans to launch them in the first half this year) adding to the roster it already runs in Zee News, Zee Business, Zee 24 Taas, Zee Punjabi, Zee News UP, Zee Tamil, Zee 24 Gantalu, and 24 Ghanta.

     

    That could well be good news for any Zee News watcher. But what is better news is the fact that the company has achieved a turnaround of sorts by reporting a profit in Q4-2013 of Rs 6.87 crore. That’s despite a drop in ad and overall revenues in the quarter. Subscription revenues have, however, been buoyant in the period.

     

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

     

    Revenues for Q4-2013 stand at Rs 79.06 crore, a dip of 8.43 per cent from last Q4- 2012’s Rs 86.34 crore. Of this, subscription revenues have increased to Rs 22.2 crore as against last quarter’s reported Rs 20.8 crore. Ad revenues have declined to Rs 52.2 crore from Rs 56.3 crore.

     

    Operating costs have significantly dropped to Rs 14.15 crore as against last corresponding quarter’s Rs 21.39 crore. However the overall expenses have surged to Rs 78.05 crore, a rise of over 9.6 per cent from Rs 71.02 crore of the last corresponding quarter especially with its employee benefit expenses rising to Rs 23.2 crore (a rise of 22 per cent annually).

     

    EBITDA for the quarter was disappointing at Rs 4.68 crore as against Rs 18.4 crore reported in the last corresponding period, a dive of over 74 per cent.

     

    PAT for the quarter (Q4-2013) at Rs 6.87 crore is a massive surge of 300 per cent from a reported loss of Rs 3.95 crore in the last corresponding quarter- Q4-2012..

     

    Let us look at the consolidated annual FY-2013 financials vs FY-2012

     

    While total revenues have slipped to Rs 303.81 crore in FY-2013 as against FY-2012’s Rs 307.22 crore, subscription revenues for the full year have surged by over 13.5 per cent to Rs 84.27 crore as opposed to last year’s Rs 74.27 crore. Subscription revenues contributed to 27.7 per cent of the total revenues indicating stronger viewer demand for the channels, while ad revenues standing at Rs 202 crore contributed a majority to the total revenue stream.

    Expenses have risen 5 per cent to Rs 278.23 crore from last year’s Rs 265 crore, with its employee benefit expenses at Rs 87.7 crore increasing by over 17.4 per cent. EBITDA for the full year is reported at Rs 37.54 crore a drop of over 29.6 per cent from last year’s 53.35 crore.

     

    Net profit for FY-2013 has ballooned 109 per cent to Rs 24.17 crore as against FY-2012’s Rs 11.55 crore. The major reason for this surge is the pouring in of funds through sources apart from its core operations including the Rs 4.8 crore dividends it received from its subsidiary Zee Akash News Pvt. Ltd. Its interest cost has narrowed to Rs 8.79 crore as against last year’s reported Rs 10.66 crore. Also the taxation costs have reduced by 3 per cent over the year.

     

    Its online property Zeenews.com has been doing well and gaining traction. Even its microsite for the India Vs Australia series generated close to 2.9 million page views while its Union budget site knocked up 1.3 million page views.

     

    Says Zee News managing director Punit Goenka,” Our subscription revenues have shown a double digit increase and have partially compensated for the revenue constraints from a tepid advertising response in the backdrop of a muted period of growth. Out constant endeavour to bring innovative, quality and unbiased content to the viewer will remain the cornerstone of our programming. We aspire to be the one-stop destination for news in the country by building seamless synergy among the group’s TV, print and digital platforms. Our company is redefining itself in tune with the changing times, laying emphasis on the digital medium and addressing broader viewer tastes.”

     

    Adds Zee News CEO Alok Agrawal,” The Zee bouquet of news channels reached the highest number of people across the country touching over a 100 million viewers the last quarter of the fiscal. The network also had the highest relative share in the same period. It is a testimony to the fact that our viewer oriented and innovative programming has shown results. Our differentiated offering to business news viewers has resulted in Zee Business being a leader in five out of 13 weeks of the quarter. Also we are seeing a significant swing of viewers from English business news to Hindi business news. In the last quarter we expanded our footprint by establishing our presence in burgeoning central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh with the launch of news and infotainment channel-Zee Madhya Pradesh/Chhattisgarh.”

  • India’s most popular crime news show ‘Crime Files’ returns to Zee News

    India’s most popular crime news show ‘Crime Files’ returns to Zee News

    NEW DELHI: Zee News is all set to re-launch one of its most popular shows- Crime Files, which was one of India’s first crime news shows that set the trend for crime shows to follow.

    Crime Files will now be showcased on Zee News starting today and will be telecast every Saturday at 10.30 pm. The show will also be telecast on its leading regional channels: Zee News Uttar Pradesh/ Uttarakhand and Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh.

    This show is very pertinent in the current scenario where shocking crimes are an everyday affair. Zee News as a responsible media house feels it is not only their duty to inform Indian citizens of these heinous incidents but also foster an air of positivism amongst them. The show is conceptualised in such a manner so as to make people aware of these crimes, the inherent reasons and its consequences. The USP of the show is not only to keep viewers alert but also apprise them to take adequate advance measures to secure and safeguard themselves and their families.

    The crime show was first started in 2002 as ‘Crime File’ on Zee News and was an instant hit. The show was a pioneer in making investigative and crime reporting popular in the country and taking it to the masses. Crime Files will be anchored by Naveen Kumar, an investigative journalist.

    Zee News Ltd CEO Alok Agrawal says: “We feel that it is our duty to inform, engage and empower our viewers about what they should know about their environment and its whereabouts; including crime and how one can safeguard oneself from such incidents. Crime Files is a show which goes into each and every angle and details of the crime. The pioneer show was started a decade ago and was very popular. Reviving the show once again will definitely create the required awareness among its audience.”

  • News Nation hands over media AOR to Carat

    News Nation hands over media AOR to Carat

    MUMBAI: It‘s making an entry into an already teeming with competition space. And News Nation – a channel promoted by a group from the north with Shailesh Kumar (a former Aaj Tak and Zee News news professional) at its helm needs all the professional help it can to guide it through the terrain. Hence, it has handed over the media mandate to plan its media spends to Dentsu-Aegis Groups’ Carat Media Services following a multi agency pitch.

    The soon to be launched channel’s creative duties are being handled by IPG’s McCann Erickson. A high voltage campaign is scheduled to be flagged off soon.

    “We believe in the proposition being put forth by News Nation whole heartedly. It’s a responsible news channel for the sensible viewer and our media approach is also similarly aligned to connect the brand message with its chosen prospect most effectively. We shall endeavour to do this with the help of all pertinent media platforms – including television, print, digital, OOH as well as activation,” says Carat Media executive VP Vidhu Sagar.

    News Nation aims to position itself as the news channel of a new India that focuses on getting to the real truth behind every story and to deliver pure, unadulterated news to viewers.

    Speaking about the channel’s objectives and ideology, News Nation CEO Shailesh Kumar says: “News Nation will never be known for sensationalism or masala news like many others of our ilk today. Instead, our sights are focused on producing sensible news for the intelligent viewer of this country and beyond. To this end, News Nation has already made sizeable investments on the technology and talent front”.

  • Zee News to boost presence in Singapore via StarHub

    Zee News to boost presence in Singapore via StarHub

    MUMBAI: Zee News will be expanding its distribution in Singapore. The Hindi-language news channel will be carried on pay TV operator StarHub from 2 April.

    With this launch, Zee News will be the first Hindi-language news channel to be made available in Singapore. Customers who currently subscribe to Zee TV will be able to catch Zee News at no additional charge.

    The addition of Zee News will augment the existing line-up of nine Hindi channels on StarHub TV which comprises Zee Cinema (Channel 130), Zee TV (Channel 125), Channel V India (Channel 132), Colors (Channel 128), Eros Bollywood On Demand (Channel 142), Sony Entertainment TV (Channel 127), Sony Max (Channel 131), Star Gold (Channel 129) and Star Plus (Channel 126).

    Programmes on Zee News include ‘Badi Khabar‘ which brings the biggest story of the day to viewers with moving pictures, analysis and in-depth coverage, the flagship bulletin ‘News @ 9‘ that contains all the main news items of the day, and The Inside Story that brings to light sensitive national issues that affect the ordinary man on the street.

    In addition to bringing the news coverage that matters to the Hindi-speaking community, StarHub TV will also be bringing the A-listers of Zee TV to the Singapore fans. StarHub will be presenting Zee Nite on 6 April at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. Zee Nite is a one-night only concert that showcases the best of India‘s television stars.

    StarHub VP of media business unit Lee Soo Hui said, “The addition of Zee News on StarHub TV helps to anchor our Hindi line-up with a strong news offering. Customers who are concerned about news affecting the Hindi-speaking community in India can now be kept up-to-date through Zee News.”

    “As Zee News is offered to Zee TV subscribers at no extra charge, customers can now enjoy two channels for the price of one. It is a testament of our commitment to continually offer the best programming with the greatest value to our subscribers.

    “We are also pleased to bring Zee Nite back to Singapore since its successful inauguration here in 2006. The stellar line-up of India‘s favourite TV stars at Zee Nite promises to be a treat for all fans of Hindi entertainment.”

    To allow StarHub TV customers to get a taste of both Zee News (channel 158) and Zee TV (channel 125), a two-week free preview will be held from 2 April to 16 April. StarHub TV customers can subscribe to Zee TV Pack which includes Zee TV and Zee News at a monthly subscription of $8.56 (including GST). Existing Zee TV customers will be able to enjoy Zee News at no additional cost.

  • ITV Network’s Karthikeya Sharma picks up majority stake in Barun Das’ ad sales firm

    ITV Network’s Karthikeya Sharma picks up majority stake in Barun Das’ ad sales firm

    MUMBAI: ITV Network MD Karthikeya Sharma has picked up majority stake in private equity backed ad sales agency Cent Percent Media Solutions, a company co-founded by former Zee News CEO Barun Das and Amit Tripathi, who was heading the ad sales function of Zee News.

     

    Sharma owns ITV Network, which runs a clutch of news channels. Besides Hindi news channel India News, the other regional-language channels are India News Haryana, India News Bihar-Jharkhand, India News Rajasthan, India News Chhattisgarh and India News UP.

     

    Last year, ITV Network acquired English news channel NewsX from Vinay Chhajlani and Jehangir Pocha.

     

    With this stake dilution to Sharma, Cent Percent Media Solutions will handle the ad sales of the ITV-owned channels. The plan is to have a slew of regional-language news channels.
        

    Commenting on this acquisition, ITV Network MD Karthikeya Sharma said, “Barun and his team have tremendous track record in managing news television business in the highly competitive genre. Also given the proliferation of niche and regional channels that I foresee, riding the digitisation of cable distribution, Cent Percent is an extremely exciting proposition.”

     

    ITV Network CEO R K Arora added, “Our thrust is on content and marketing strategy, which has already started showing results.”

     

    Cent Percent Media Solutions is outsourcing adverting sales organisation with its core focus on regional and niche channels.

     

    Cent Percent Media Solutions co-founder Das said, “Regionalisation and Digitisation are the primary growth drivers of TV media, where so far the profitability has been the prerogative of only a select few. With capacity growing exponentially due to digitisation, Indian TV industry is poised for the next big leap. In a country of 1.24 billion people with 22 official languages, niche and regional language channels would realise their true potential, now. I expect more 200 new channels, mostly regional and Niche would be launched in next 3-5 years. Cent Percent would be a one-stop shop to meet the advertising revenue challenge of all niche and regional channels who may not find it viable to build a strong national sales team.”

     

    Tripathi added, “We would have a strong national team with about 70 leading sales professional. Our initial plan is to build a bouquet of regional news channels which would be the biggest and most effective one from the point of view of national advertisers. Within the first fortnight of its operations, Cent Percent has signed up with seven high potential regional news channels. We are confident that before the new financial year, we would be setting up a bouquet of 10 regional news channels. Our primary bouquet would have one channel each from leading regional TV markets of India. We would carefully handpick those channels.”