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Tag: ZEEL

  • He has stepped down after a 16-year stint with ZEEL

    Bharat Ranga quits Zee after 16-year stint

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bharat Ranga, the Chief Content and Creative Officer (CCCO) has stepped down after a 16-year stint with ZEEL.

     

    Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited said, “Since 1998, Bharat has been an invaluable member of the ZEE family. During his career span with us, Bharat has contributed to the overall growth of the organization by leveraging new revenue opportunities, bringing about path breaking content, starting new streams of content through new channel launches and transcending the business beyond geographies; to name a few. We wish to sincerely thank him for the valuable contribution he made to the organization.”

     

    Speaking on his tenure at ZEE, Bharat Ranga said, “I have turned 16 in the ZEE family this year and I am confident that all the values and experiences that ZEE has imparted will stand me in good stead. I am thankful to the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Punit who have always backed us in our pursuits to achieve organisational goals and attain personal growth. And I sincerely wish ZEE all the success in the years ahead.”

     

    Ranga’s last day with the organization will be 7th October, 2014. All verticals and functions at ZEE who currently report to him, will now report into the MD & CEO, Punit Goenka.

     

  • The videos were hilarious and that attracted more than 6 lakh impressions on twitter alone

    TheSmallBigIdea promotes interactive application Dil Se

    By A Correspondent

     

    ANDPictures’ digital agency, TheSmallBigIdea roped in stand up comedians Ashwin Mushran and Amogh Ranadive to promote their interactive application Dil Se. In a one of a kind interactive campaign, the audience’s tweets were converted into videos within minutes of them being posted.

     

    ANDPictures, the interactive movie channel from the stable of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) recently launched an interactive application called Dil Se, which allows people to record and upload messages for their favorite celebrity. The recorded messages are then sent to celebs for them to reply with personalized messages for their fans.

     

    The audience had to tweet to the channel, the extent to which they would go to catch the attention of their favourite star. While audiences flooded AndPictures timelines with crazy ideas in the form of tweets & posts, Ashwin Mushran, Amogh Ranadive and the agency was busy converting the tweets into video sketches. The gags told the audience how their ideas of impressing their stars might not to be the best, by mocking the idea itself. The videos were hilarious and that attracted more than 6 lakh impressions on twitter alone.

     

    Harikrishnan Pillai, Founder-Director, TheSmallBigIdea shared, “Our route was twisted and twisted works. People didn’t expect their version of celeb-love to come out in such funny manner, and that too within minutes of them tweeting. Good part is that people were OK to laugh at themselves. The giggles ended at 6 lakh impressions, validating the efficacy of the idea too.”

     

    Deputy Business Head – Hindi Movie Channels, Ruchir Tiwari added, “The end objective was to make people aware of this application. The core message was beautifully weaved around the social activity, giving us dual advantage of creating great online content and marketing the digital property.”

     

  • The event will witness attendance from over 400 CXOs heading India’s top companies

    Second edition of Zee Leadership Series announced

    By A Correspondent

     

    ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Limited has announced the second edition of its Intellectual Property - ‘ZEE Leadership Series’ which will be held on 19thSeptember, 2014 at Hotel Sahara Star in Mumbai. The event will witness attendance from over 400 CXOs heading India’s top companies.

     

    Roland Landers, Head – Corporate Brand, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) said, “ZEE Corporate Brand has not just formed a family of millions of loyal viewers, but has also enriched the lives of its internal and external stakeholders. ZEE considers each one of these stakeholders as family and aims at making the entire World a part of this family. Inspired with this thought, ZEE has incorporated its brand positioning of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – The World is my Family”.”

     

    This year, the two renowned keynote speakers for the ZEE Leadership Series are Alan Krueger and Divya Narendra. Alan Krueger is one of the most-respected and thoughtful economists. He served as Chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) and a member of his Cabinet – roles that recruit from the upper echelon of the nation’s best and brightest. From 1994-1995, he also served as the Chief Economist at the Department of Labor in the US Government. In his session, Krueger will share his insights on world economy with relation to corporate India’s contribution, and will also touch upon the key areas of improvement.

     

    In the other session, Divya Narendra, an American businessman, will share his views on the innovation and creativity expected in the current digital era. Narendra is the CEO and co-founder of SumZero along with his Harvard classmate Aalap Mahadevia. He also co-founded HarvardConnection (later renamed ConnectU) with Harvard University classmates Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss.

     

    Since its inception in 1992, ZEE Corporate Brand has carved a special place in the hearts of over 730 million viewers, achieving presence in over 169 countries. ZEE’s pioneering vision has set its position, starkly different from the rest, with numerous industry firsts to its credit. ZEE’s expertise of offering relevant entertainment to its viewers, has led to consistent growth, making it a clear leader in the television industry space. The journey of over two decades has been replete with many prestigious awards, and a peak rank in the media & entertainment sector.

     

    ZEE Leadership Series 2014 is powered by Chintels. The other event partners are Zee Business – Telecast partner, LiveMedia and Cash ur Drive – OOH Partners, dna – Print Partner, Business World – Magazine Partner and Business Standard – Business Newspaper Partner.

     

  • ZEEL has appointed Akash Chawla, who has successfully been heading the Marketing Function for National Channels at ZEEL, to take charge as the Business Head – EVPL

    Akash Chawla appointed Business Head of Essel Vision Productions

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) has appointed Akash Chawla, who has successfully been heading the Marketing Function for National Channels at ZEEL, to take charge as the Business Head – EVPL.

     

    Akash has been given the mandate to head the TV Production (all languages), Movie Production (all languages except Marathi), Studio Production Business, Digital & Online Production, Events & IP creation. Akash will drive the organizational aspiration of EVPL and contribute in multiplying its business from its current business levels. For this role, Akash will report to Nittin Keni.

     

    “Essel Vision is very focused in the film & television production, digital, events and the IP creation business. Having spearheaded marketing for Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zee Classic and Zee Cine Awards, Akash has worked successfully towards the launch of three of ZEEL’s new brands in the last one year – &pictures, Zee Anmol and Zindagi. He will work towards strengthening our presence in Hindi and other languages movie production & marketing and the digital business to catapult the organization’s ambitions to the next level.  We will produce content not just for the Indian audiences but also for companies and audiences the world over. While IP rights provide the foundation upon which innovation is shared and creativity is encouraged, the digital age provides many opportunities within the entertainment media industry to improve efficiency, costs and viewer experiences. Everything we do is driven by an unyielding passion for excellence-and an unfaltering commitment to develop the best products. We are in talks with various leading collaborators for the same and will soon announce new initiatives,” shared Nittin Keni.

     

    Essel Vision’s consistency and success are built on its unwavering dedication to setting benchmarks and excellence. It has already made a mark on the map of Television and Feature Films – both in the Hindi and Marathi space. With blockbuster films like ‘D-Day’, ‘Gulaal’, ‘Natrang’, ‘Kaaksparsh’, Essel Vision has taken its first steps to another high with its ventures like “Time Pass”, “Lai Bhari” and  ‘Duniyadaari’ which have been the highest grossers in the Marathi film space. Its other creation ‘The Lunchbox’ has already received accolades around the world. In the television space, the company has been successful with qualitative programs like ‘Fear Files’, ‘Dance India Dance’ and ‘India’s Best Dramebaaz’, ‘Saregama’, ‘DID L’il Masters’, ‘DID Super Moms’, on Hindi TV, and ‘Eka Peksha Ek’ and ‘Fu Bai Fu’ amongst others on Marathi TV.  The upcoming feature films include ‘Mad About Dance’ which is promoted by Shah Rukh Khan himself and another film called ‘3AM’ (horror film) is on the anvil.

     

    Just as ZEE is an innovative leader in developing new business models for the evolving television and film landscape, Essel Vision’s objective is to be a one-stop shop for all Film, Television, Digital, Events & IP creation related services where it will produce, co-produce, market and distribute.

     

  • The former commercial head at Zee Entertainment and Colors has moved to Broadcast Audience Research Council as Chief Business Officer

    Romil Ramgarhia joins BARC as Chief Business Officer

    By A Correspondent

     

    Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India has appointed Romil Ramgarhia as Chief Business Officer of the organisation. This is a move to strengthen its core management team as BARC moves closer to the launch of its services. In his new role, Mr Ramgarhia will report into BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta.

     

    In his last role, Mr Ramgarhia was Chief Commercial Officer at ZEEL. Before joining ZEEL, he was also associated with Viacom18, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints and ACC, in different capacities. However, he has been associated with BARC for a while and was spotted at the announcement of Mediametrie as the technology partner.

     

    Said Punit Goenka, MD and CEO, ZEEL and chairman, BARC: “Romil has played a key role during his limited assignment at ZEEL. It is unfortunate that he has quit ZEEL however I am confident that his rich experience will bring greater value to BARC India. As he now moves on to a new challenge in a new role and domain, I wish him luck for his continued success.”

     

    Added Mr Dasgupta: “BARC India is moving closer to launch. Romil has an excellent background in broadcast, in telecom and in other industries. He was already associated with BARC India as part of its Commercial Committee and hence is well initiated in the processes. With his great business acumen, he will further strengthen the organization.”

     

    Talking about his appointment, Mr Ramgarhia said, “My assignment with ZEEL and Viacom18 has been one of my most challenging as well as gratifying periods of my professional career. It is great to be a part of a start-up which is  slated to be the biggest audience measurement system across the world.”

     

  • Taj Television is India’s largest distribution agency and has a powerful repertoire of over 47 leading television channels

    It’s ‘Wah, Taj!’ for Zee & Turner group channels, new co to distribute Zindagi

    By A Correspondent

     

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEE) added another feather to its cap by bringing on board India’s largest distribution network, Taj Television India Pvt. Ltd. (Taj Television). Taj Television is India’s largest distribution agency and has a powerful repertoire of over 47 leading television channels. This includes well-known brands belonging to ZEE, Zee Media Corporation Limited and Turner International India Private Limited. Taj Television distributes channels which are leaders in 15 out of the 19 markets and has nine leadership channels across eight genres.

     

    Punit Goenka

    Punit Goenka, Managing Director and CEO, ZEE commented, “I am pleased to announce that Taj Television, which earlier was distributing Ten Sports channels, will now distribute all the channels of Zee Entertainment and Zee Media Corporation, while also representing Turner channels as its authorized agent. I would like to thank all our DTH and Cable partners who have been part of our growth journey and look forward to their continued support to Taj Television. Arun Kapoor, who has successfully led Mediapro for the last three years, would continue to provide leadership to Taj Television. Rajesh Sethi would continue to be the CEO for Sports broadcasting network of ZEE.”

     

    Arun K Kapoor, CEO, Taj Television, said “ZEE has been the pioneer in Indian television and has the experience and leadership capability to shape the future of pay revenues in India. With Taj Television being created as the distribution entity for the network, we bring together the best of television channels to our customers. We are confident that the new channel Zindagi will really connect with the viewers and help grow Taj Television offering even stronger. We are committed to quality and achieving leadership through fair and transparent business practices.”

     

    Atul Das, President, Taj Television, said “With digitization having been completed in Phase I and Phase II cities in India, we now look forward to its implementation in rest of the country. Taj Television would aim to create a harmonious relationship within the ecosystem and create value for all stakeholders. With a leading portfolio of television channels, both in the national and regional space and with a powerful portfolio of sports programming, we are excited about the future of pay revenues in the country.”

     

    Taj Television distributes ZEE’s well-known brands like Zee TV, Zee Cinema, &pictures, Ten Sports, Zee Cafe, Zee Studio, Zing and a powerful repertoire of regional language channels including Zee Marathi, Zee Bangla, Zee Telugu, Zee Kannada and Zee Tamizh, besides the HD channels like Zee TV HD, Zee Cinema HD, Zee Studio HD and Ten HD. Taj Television also distributes channels of Zee Media Corporation, the largest news network in India with two national and eight regional channels. These channels are available across the country.Taj is also distributing the leading channels in the kid’s space and English movie segment, including HBO, Cartoon Network, Pogo, CNN and Warner Brothers as an authorized agent of Turner International.

     

  • It's Zee's boldest venture thus far: a premium all-India Hindustani GEC with 'Made in Pakistan' (and elsewhere) fictions. An interview with ZEEL MD & CEO Punit Goenka

    Nothing wrong in airing Pak content: Punit Goenka

     

    It’s Zee’s boldest venture thus far: a premium all-India Hindustani GEC with ‘Made in Pakistan’ (and elsewhere) fictions. Launching on June 23, it is targeted at, as a communiqué notes, family viewing with today’s Indian sensibilities of wanting to balance household responsibilities and at the same time, creating one’s identity, the channel is set to infuse fresh storytelling to the Indian television industry.  An interview with ZEEL Managing Director & CEO Punit Goenka.

     

    Bold move to launch a channel like Zindagi?

    You have to do something every couple of years, to keep the blood rushing.

     

    Hmmm, since when has this been in the making?

    We’ve been working in the concept for a long time, but truly, about 15 months.

     

    Do you anticipate any problem given that Pakistani serials in India are not official aired in India. It’s not a done thing to be showing Pakistani serials.

    Well, there’s no law that says you can’t do it. I’ve received all my permissions. I’ve got everything in order. We’ve acquired all content on legal basis through legal entities. So my view is that if Hollywood content or content from the West can be brought here, why not content made in Pakistan? As long as it’s nothing to do with anti-India sentiments, there should be no reason why any entertainment content can’t be brought here.

     

    Given that there’s over rising hatred towards Pakistan and you have the likes of the Shiv Sena creating a lot of fuss about Pakistan, do you anticipate trouble. You may be on the right side of the law, but is there a fear or worry?

    No, it’s not a fear or a worry.

     

    And have you taken any one into confidence….

    No, I don’t think I need to take anybody into confidence, I’m doing what I believe is a good for the business and a good thing for the country also. I think, at the end of the day I’m entertaining and also bringing about a change which would allow people see the similarity in our cultures is so much that the reason for hatred is only select people. So, hate those select people. Don’t hate a country! That’s my view.

     

    Pakistani serials have been very popular in India in the last 25-odd years. I remember how they were huge even in the early days of the video wave. How old or new are the shows that you will be airing?

    They’re in the last two to three years’ range. Nothing older. Everything is as recent as the last two years.

     

    And are these among the top shows from Pakistan?

    Our barometer for selection was not how they’re performing in Pakistan. But the category we want to create is of the progressive mindset. While the predominant viewer is female here, the mindset of the female is progressive; not traditional… unlike what we offer through normal GECs that exist today. Therefore we handpick shows on that basis, irrespective of the fact of what the ratings were in Pakistan.

     

    Is the handpicking of shows been done by you or do you have somebody in Pakistan helping you..

    We have a team in Pakistan also and those are more outsourced kind of people. But largely it is our team in India.

     

    Would you also look at freshly produced content at any point?

    We’ve already started. We’ve already commissioned 12 telefilms that we’re producing and we’ve identified shows that we will be producing going forward. So it won’t be just syndicated content…

     

    How much of originai content will we see?

    Within a year I think we should be doing about 10 hours a week of original production.

     

    How much new programming every day?

    Four to start with, per day.

     

    Your press statement says that the footprint of the channel is all-India and you are also targeting South India? Are we going to see the channel dubbed in South Indian languages?

    No, it’s not dubbed. It’s going to be in Hindi and we do believe that the progressive mindset will consume Hindi, even down South, irrespective of the fact that it might not be their mother tongue. Our research has shown there are enough audiences available in different states, but therefore we deliberately chose to make it an all India launch.

     

    This is a significant difference from the audiences regular Hindi GECs have always looked at?

    Because they focus on the mass. This focuses on the premium mass. We’ve defined a new category which doesn’t exist today. My research tells me the premium mass are willing to accept content, irrespective of the language. They have to make a connect with the content rather than the language.

     

    In terms of distribution will it be part of the Zee package?

    Yes, absolutely, it will be in the Base Tier.

     

    So no extra money to be paid for this?

    Well, I think they should be charging extra for a premium channel like this. If they don’t pass on the cost to the customer, that’s the platform’s choice. But I do believe this gives them the opportunity to increase prices.

     

    Have you tested the concept with advertisers?

    We’re getting reasonably good response from them as well. So, I’m quite hopeful that we will have some sponsors and tie-ups on board before we launch the channel.

     

    Coming back to the original shows,  would you look at syndicating to Pakistani channels too?

    Why not?

     

    Zee TV is already available in Pakistan, now will it officially available?

    No, we cannot be officially available. Even Zee TV isn’t officially available in Pakistan. Pirated signals go, but officially we can’t sell it there.

     

    You mentioned that a year from now there will be 10 hours of original content. Would there be reality shows also or..

    No reality shows on this channel. It will predominantly remain fiction based.

     

    Any reason for this?

    I think the USP is the fiction part which we want to highlight. There are many reality shows which are already being done. So we didn’t want to bring in another element here. It helps us focus on the TG we’ve targeted and reality shows go away from the core and try and target a lot more than your bread and butter. So, we want to focus on the bread & butter rather than get garnished sprinkled on top of it.

     

    In the past we have had instances of popular shows being moved to the flagship channel of the network? Could that happen here too?

    No, that will not happen. How does it matter to me if tomorrow Zindagi becomes my flagship? Should it matter?

     

    Over the years, the second GEC hasn’t done well

    Zee Next.

     

    And before that, EL TV

    Well,  EL TV did very well. In fact Zee got scared of EL and therefore had it converted to a news channel (laughs)

     

    On a serious note, the second channel across networks hasn’t done well. Life OK took off well, but is still not up there. What is the Zee Network’s commitment to Zindagi?

    My view is that if we as a network were not sure about giving this a full shot, I wouldn’t be sitting here doing these interactions. I think we’re very clear on what has gone wrong. We can debate that till the cows come home! The fact is, have we plugged all those holes? Have we made sure that our go-to-market strategy is right or not? I think we’ve covered all grounds. The success, the viewer will decide. I’m no one to decide that. I have to make sure that I’m available. I’ve made the consumer aware of the product and then I’ve to get him or her to sample it and like it.

     

    Would you at some point also look at Bangladeshi content or from other markets in newer channels?

    I haven’t studied that market yet. But I do remember we were discussing the possibility of getting Bangladeshi movies which could run on the Bangla channel. But we haven’t studied it in that much detail. We’ve studied this market. It’ll be 15 months by the time we launch. A lot of work has gone in to get it to this stage and get it ready to launch. But definitely, we’re not closed to that. We can study that market also and if we find there is some proposition that can work, why not!

     

    And would you look at other cross-border content coming into Zindagi?

    I must add, in Zindagi itself we’ve identified content that we’ll be sourcing from markets like Turkey, Egypt and some of the Latin American countries where it’s not that we’ve just picked up shows, dubbed them and are going to be running them. We’re actually remaking those shows in Hindi. That’s part of the 10 hours of content I talked about. So, it’s not just Pakistan…

     

    You mentioned Hindi, but these are shows in Urdu, right. It may be a little tough for some to understand the language….

    This was one of the key parameters in my research. To my pleasant surprise, it came out that people appreciated that fact! Rather than making it a negative. They said that while some words are difficult to understand, in a conversation or sentence, as long as you get the gist of it, it’s fine. And the Urdu that was in existence 20 years ago when we watched PTV or Lahore TV has simplified. Quite like the way our Hindi was 20 years back to what it has become today. So, from that perspective I don’t think it will be such a big issue that it gets rejected. I’m quite hopeful that people will appreciate it and that will be one of the USPs. The dialect is so soothing to the ears unlike the tu-tadaak that you see here on our GECs today.

     

    Would you also at some pint of time look at other cross border content on your other channels? Like with your food channel Khana Khazana given the similarities between food in India and across the border? Do we see a Khana Khazana Pakistan?

    That’s quite possible. Definitely. Why not? We’ll definitely explore all that. Thank you for a business idea!

     

    With Zindagi and the rest of the offerings you have, what is the direction you’re looking at for the Zee Network over the next year?

    We’re definitely looking at outward growth for the Zee Network going forward. And as you know we love to beat the market projections every time. And that’s the endeavour for us. If the market is growing at X, how can we grow at 1.5X…

     

    Any specific targets for Zindagi?

    Yes, we have all those targets in place. The investment levels and all those things have been done to keep those parameters in mind. I wouldn’t want to pre-empt what my targets are right now, but I can tell you that they’re definitely aggressive.

     

  • Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, ZEEL, received the The Economic Times '40 under Forty' – India's Hottest Business Leaders Award 2014 at a function in Mumbai

    Zee CEO Punit Goenka recipient of ET’s 40 under Forty’ awards initiative

    By A Correspondent

     

    Punit Goenka

    Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, ZEEL, received the prestigious The Economic Times ’40 under Forty’ – India’s Hottest Business Leaders Award 2014 on April 29th at a glittering function held at the Four Seasons, Mumbai. He was presented the award by Deepak Parekh, Executive Chairman, HDFC. The list of the 40 winners was finalized by a study conducted by The Economic Times and Spencer Stuart to identify India Inc’s upcoming leadership.

     

    Out of the original list of 2000 leaders, the final 40 were identified based on a combination of quantitative business results (growth, margins and turnaround) as well as qualitative attributes (innovation, reputation, people leadership, and contribution to the ecosystem). The jury was chaired by Deepak Parekh, Executive Chairman of HDFC while the other eminent members on the panel were Anjali Bansal, Managing Director of Spencer Stuart India, Subodh Bhargava, Chairman, Tata Communications, Janmejaya Sinha, Chairman of Boston Consulting Group, Asia Pacific, Harish Manwani, COO, Unilever and Non-Executive Chairman, Hindustan Unilever, D Shivakumar, Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo India and Sanjeev Bhikchandani, CEO and Co-Founder, Info Edge India.

     

    Other notable names who received the honour are Sachin Bansal, Co-Founder & CEO, Flipkart, Schauna Chauhan, CEO, Parle Agro, Aditya Ghosh, President, IndiGo Air and Siddharth Roy Kapur, MD, The Walt Disney Company India, amongst others.

     

  • Sorbojeet Chatterjee has joined ZEEL as Senior Vice President, Marketing for the cluster of Hindi GECs

    Sorbojeet Chatterjee moves from dna to Zeel

    By A Correspondent

     

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd has announced the appointment of Sorbojeet Chatterjee as Senior Vice President, Marketing for the cluster of Hindi GECs including Zee TV, Zee Anmol, Smile, 9X and Zee TV HD channels. For his responsibilities, Mr Chatterjee will report to Akash Chawla, Executive Vice President and Marketing Head – National Channels, ZEEL. Another movement announced is that of Sapangeet Rajwant who will take over as Zee TV – Marketing Head and will report to Mr Chatterjee.

     

    Mr Chatterjee brings with him 13 years of experience from both sides of the media business – the creative side as a copywriter and the business side in marketing and strategy. He moves from the Zee Media Corp-owned dna where he was designated as Senior VP – Marketing. His earlier stints have been with Neo Sports Broadcast Pvt Ltd as Vice President Marketing, TV Today Network as Head of Marketing and Special Projects and Gslot.com as Copywriter. He has extensive media marketing experience across television, print and radio brands. He is also an avid quizzer and has been active on various industry forums and associations.

     

     

  • The deal will see Sony Music manage all digital assets for Zee Music's upcoming Bollywood releases

    Sony to manage digital assets of Zee Music

    By a correspondent

     

    Sony Music Entertainment India and Zee Music Company have announced a strategic worldwide digital deal wherein Sony Music will manage all digital assets for Zee Music’s upcoming Bollywood releases. The tieup further extends to exploring publishing for Zee Music’s assets for the rest of the world through Sony/ATV. Apart from the Zee Music releases, Sony Music will also be working on also other tent pole films with leading production houses including Vishesh Films, Dharma Production and Fox Star Studios. This deal will cumulatively grow Sony Music’s digital market share by approx 15 per cent.

     

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited had recently announced its foray into the music label space with its venture, Zee Music Company and acquired the music rights of over 20 major motion pictures. With this announcement Sony Music will have access to all of Zee Music’s releases including Holiday, Bang Bang, Bombay Velvet, Humshakal, Hawa Hawaii to name few.

     

    Sanujeet Bhujabal, Marketing Director Sony Music India said, “In the past we have worked with leading content creators like YRF and Disney. This strategic association will provide a global foot print to all the prestigious releases. This is a huge opportunity and together we believe we will be able to provide the best of music entertainment to fans.”

     

    Anurag Bedi, Head Zee Music Company said, “We’ve had a great relationship with Sony Music in the past, and are excited to have them as the digital partner for some of our forthcoming films. Partnering with Sony Music will be mutually beneficial as we have a robust slate for this year which includes about 20-25 films, all of which are produced by leading production houses.”

     

  • The start-up has acquired the music of films like Holiday, Humshakals, Bang Bang and Bombay Velvet

    Zee launches music co, acquires blockbuster content

    By A Correspondent

     

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) has announced its foray into the music label space with its latest venture, ‘Zee Music Company’ (ZMC). The ZMC has plans to acquire the music rights of over 20 major motion pictures in the financial year 2014-15.

     

    Punit Goenka

    Introducing the label, Punit Goenka, MD and CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited stated “The music industry is a large playing field and there is scope for us to explore the opportunity in this market. Technology has also emerged as a key transformer of the music industry and digital revenues are driving growth in the market. Since we are a content company, it is essential to own intellectual property as content is the king.”

     

    Said Anurag Bedi, Business Head and EVP, Zee Music Company (ZMC): It’s a great space to be in, as music is something that is consumed universally. The Hindi film industry is currently in its best phase musically and there is a plethora of talent. We had been toying with this idea and finally we have entered this space.”

     

    Anurag Bedi

    Talking about the acquisitions, Mr Bedia said: “We are thrilled at having acquired the rights to the music of the Akshay Kumar-Sonakshi Sinha starrer ‘Holiday’ which is jointly produced by Reliance Big Entertainment, Sunshine Pictures and Hari Om Entertainment Company.”

     

    “We have also partnered with Fox Star Studios and signed the latter for the music of 5 of its Hindi releases for the year, including the Saif Ali Khan and Riteish Deshmukh starrer ‘Humshakals’, Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif starrer ‘Bang Bang’ and one of the most anticipated releases of the year ‘Bombay Velvet’ starring Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma”; Mr Bedi added.

     

    The music industry in India currently stands at a staggering figure of Rs 960 crore and projected figures for 2014 are Rs 1010 crore. The industry is expected to only grow over the years and reach Rs 1780 crore in 2018. Zee Music Company intends partnering with big players like Dharma Productions, Excel Entertainment and other top studios, a communiqué added.

     

  • The event began with an inaugural session that saw the big guns from the media and allied sectors including the I&B Ministry delve on the theme of the conclave – Transforming Lives

    #FF14 Day 1: Frames takes transformational route in 15th year

     

    By a correspondent

     

    The 15th edition of the much anticipated annual event of the Media & Entertainment industry – FICCI Frames 2014, got off to a captivating start in Mumbai on March 12, 2014. The event began with an inaugural session that saw the big guns from the media and allied sectors including the I&B Ministry delve on the theme of the conclave – Transforming Lives – while also highlighting the current state of the M&E sector and its scope for the future.

     

    The lineup of the dignitaries for the inaugural session included Harshavardhan Neotia, Vice President, FICCI; Uday Shankar, Chairman, FICCI Media and Entertainment Committee, and CEO, Star India; Punit Goenka, CEO & MD, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd; Shri Bimal Julka, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India; Shri Srivatsa Krishna, Secretary, Department of IT, BT & ST, Government of Karnataka; H.E. Patrick Suckling, Australian High Commissioner to India and Ajit Pai, Commissioner, FCC, USA.

     

    Highlighting the state of the M&E industry in 2013, Uday Shankar said that while there was much talk about doom and gloom in the economy it was not the case for the M&E industry that grew by almost 12 per cent. But he cautioned that the goal of attaining the $100 billion landmark was a distant dream as yet. Mr Uday went on to highlight the role that the government could essay in simplifying several issues facing the industry and how it could work in tandem with the industry in resolving them.

     

    Echoing a similar point of view, ZEEL’s Punit Goenka too laid the pitch for a collaborative effort as he said that the M&E sector has played a key role in enhancing the prospects of the economy, especially on the jobs front. “The M&E industry has been a shining example of how an industry could work towards achieving a common goal of inclusive growth and being a facilitator to all concerned. It is a matter of pride for the sector to be employing more than 6 million people with the scope of providing employment to many more in time to come.”

     

    Mr. Goenka further highlighted the role that digitization has played in the year gone by, and how it would alter the broadcast landscape in the future. He affirmed to the audience that it was time to give back to the industry for whatever it has given us and that the same should be done by unleashing innovation and creativity as the core. In fact the collective aim should be to transform the lives of the global community and not just India, asserted Goenka.

     

    Having been introduced to the various loopholes and issues facing the industry at the introductory session, Shri Bimal Julka, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting was vocal when he said that it was not just the government but the industry that should take responsibility in finding a solution to the problems at hand. “The role of the government is that of a facilitator, it would be great if the industry takes a collective stand on issues themselves and come to us if at all they face any hurdles.”

     

    Highlighting the several initiatives undertaken by the I&B ministry, Mr Julka said that the first two phases of digitization have met with reasonable success in about 42 cities and it could be credited as being the smoothest and fastest such initiative of its kind. The focus now would be on Phase 3 & 4 of the drive where an additional 110 million STBs are scheduled to be rolled out. “While there are a few issues concerning the digitization exercise, we are taking efforts to sort them out including at the level of broadcasters, MSOs, LCOs etc. But the good thing is that digitization has managed to bring in transparency in the broadcast sector, which was the main goal of the whole exercise.”

     

    Mr Julka said that the I&B ministry was also concerned about the content that was being shown to the viewers and urged the broadcasters to practice self-regulation. With 800 channels already existing and a further 250 plus awaiting clearances, it was important for broadcast companies to figure out how to dish out content that is accepted by the viewer.

     

    Mr Julka also touched upon the challenges facing the industry including control on monopoly & cross-media ownership, content monitoring, transponder capacity problem facing DTH players etc.

     

    The session proceeded to an engaging perspective on the US broadcast market that was provided by Ajit Pai, Commissioner, FCC, USA and also a keynote address by Shri Srivatsa Krishna, Secretary, Department of IT, BT & ST, Government of Karnataka.